5 ms·

>the New York Times reported that there were 23,068 reported pickpocketing incidents in the city in 1990, amounting to nearly $10 million in losses. That's ove

>the New York Times reported that there were 23,068 reported pickpocketing incidents in the city in 1990, amounting to nearly $10 million in losses. That's over $400 per incident. Either people carry a hell of a lot of cash on them or there are some outliers with some interesting stories to tell.

jtreminio 16y ago
I imagine the pickpockets also stole watches and other valuable jewelry.
tastybites 16y ago
$400 seems right. Jack someone's wallet and then walk into the nearest big box store to use their credit cards. I've had my credit card # stolen 3 or 4 times and $400 is about the average amount of fraud that happened each time. It's usually like a tank of gas and a trip to Best Buy to purchase something like a video game console. One time they bought a plane ticket online for $350.
- kenjackson 16y ago
  One time they bought a plane ticket online for $350. I assume this one get caught?
  - mgkimsal 16y ago
    Don't assume anything. I had someone steal my card info and use it to by a bed and mattress, which was delivered to their house. Sears (ahem) wouldn't tell me who bought it, or where it was delivered, because I wasn't the purchaser, but they were happy to charge me for it. I turned it over to the police, but they said they weren't going to deal with it as it was 'only' ~$1200. This was in 2002 IIRC.
    - mey 16y ago
      When such a thing happens, initiate a chargeback through your bank. Additionally federal (US) regulations limit your out of pocket expenses of fraud to $50.
      - mgkimsal 16y ago
        I caught it about 2 days after it happened, and got the bank involved and had my money restored in a couple more days - that wasn't a big deal. The frustrating thing was that this was just 100% glossed over by law enforcement. This wasn't a $40 meal splurge by a petty thief - it was a freakin bedroom set.
    - afinlayson 16y ago
      I'm pretty sure Sears committed a crime in not telling you. But every state/country is different.
      - mgkimsal 16y ago
        They weren't to know - I might have bought a bed and shipped it to someone in another state as a gift. After I told them it wasn't my purchase, however, they should have given me the info, but they didn't. Police didn't seem to care, bank didn't seem to care. Odd...
  - danssig 16y ago
    Depends on where you are, but in a city cops aren't going to bother if the amount's not enough to get felony charges.
ricree 16y ago
The fact that it's the average for reported incidents probably cuts out a lot of the outliers on the low end of the scale.
- jhamburger 16y ago
  That and the fact that people probably exaggerate the loss for insurance purposes. Also, pickpockets and muggers are likely to profile their targets- Traditionally this would have been the wealthy, counterintuitively it's now the poor: People without credit cards and/or bank accounts, and immigrants paid in cash who are forced to walk or bike home from work through a bad neighborhood in the dark with an entire week's pay in their pocket.

jtreminio 16y ago

I imagine the pickpockets also stole watches and other valuable jewelry.

tastybites 16y ago

$400 seems right. Jack someone's wallet and then walk into the nearest big box store to use their credit cards. I've had my credit card # stolen 3 or 4 times and $400 is about the average amount of fraud that happened each time. It's usually like a tank of gas and a trip to Best Buy to purchase something like a video game console. One time they bought a plane ticket online for $350.

kenjackson 16y ago
One time they bought a plane ticket online for $350. I assume this one get caught?
- mgkimsal 16y ago
  Don't assume anything. I had someone steal my card info and use it to by a bed and mattress, which was delivered to their house. Sears (ahem) wouldn't tell me who bought it, or where it was delivered, because I wasn't the purchaser, but they were happy to charge me for it. I turned it over to the police, but they said they weren't going to deal with it as it was 'only' ~$1200. This was in 2002 IIRC.
  - mey 16y ago
    When such a thing happens, initiate a chargeback through your bank. Additionally federal (US) regulations limit your out of pocket expenses of fraud to $50.
    - mgkimsal 16y ago
      I caught it about 2 days after it happened, and got the bank involved and had my money restored in a couple more days - that wasn't a big deal. The frustrating thing was that this was just 100% glossed over by law enforcement. This wasn't a $40 meal splurge by a petty thief - it was a freakin bedroom set.
  - afinlayson 16y ago
    I'm pretty sure Sears committed a crime in not telling you. But every state/country is different.
    - mgkimsal 16y ago
      They weren't to know - I might have bought a bed and shipped it to someone in another state as a gift. After I told them it wasn't my purchase, however, they should have given me the info, but they didn't. Police didn't seem to care, bank didn't seem to care. Odd...
- danssig 16y ago
  Depends on where you are, but in a city cops aren't going to bother if the amount's not enough to get felony charges.

ricree 16y ago

The fact that it's the average for reported incidents probably cuts out a lot of the outliers on the low end of the scale.

jhamburger 16y ago
That and the fact that people probably exaggerate the loss for insurance purposes. Also, pickpockets and muggers are likely to profile their targets- Traditionally this would have been the wealthy, counterintuitively it's now the poor: People without credit cards and/or bank accounts, and immigrants paid in cash who are forced to walk or bike home from work through a bad neighborhood in the dark with an entire week's pay in their pocket.