What Are The Most Shoplifted Items? - East Idaho News
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What Are The Most Shoplifted Items?

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Getty 060712 Shoplifting?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1339093484171Hemera/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — No retailer is safe when it comes to the pesky five-finger discount. Retail crime is now a bigger problem than ever, according to a new survey released by the National Retail Federation.

A whopping 96 percent of companies claim they’ve been the victim of theft in the past year, up from 94.5 percent last year.

“Criminals have become more desperate and brazen in their efforts, stopping at nothing to get their hands on large quantities of merchandise,” NRF vice president of loss prevention, Rich Mellor, said in the report.

Criminals go after the goods they can sell for near-retail price, the NRF found.

So what are these highly-desired, most stolen items? Bandits are taking off with electronic toothbrushes, high-end vacuums and infant formula.

A few products are new to this year’s list, including KitchenAid mixers, educational toys and games, GPS units and laundry detergent.

Jeans continue to be one of the most stolen items year after year.

And you might be surprised to learn how cleverly organized these retail crime gangs actually are — think a toned-down version of Clooney and Pitt in Ocean’s Eleven. To pull off the heist, the team of bandits rely on hand signals, cell phones, GPS devices and comprehensive shopping lists and have “tools of the trade,” which include foil-lined shopping bags, purses, boxes and signal jammers to defeat inventory control tags.

The top 10 most affected cities are Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco and Washington D.C., according to the report. 

Here is the full list of goods thieves grab the most:

Grocery
Cigarettes
Energy drinks
High-end liquor
Infant formula

Over-the-Counter Medicine
Allergy medicine
Diabetic testing strips
Pain relievers
Weight loss pills

Health and Beauty
Electric toothbrushes & replacement heads
Lotions and creams
Pregnancy tests

Clothing
Denim jeans
Designer clothing/denim
Handbags

Electronics

Cell Phones
Digital cameras
Digital recorders
GPS devices
Laptops
LCD monitors & televisions

Home

High-end vacuums
KitchenAid mixers

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