Registration marks
In just a couple of years, license plate theft has become a real epidemic in Russian cities. They tried to solve the problem by radical legislative amendments. Last summer, for the theft of a registration plate, criminal liability was introduced with punishment up to four years in prison. Those who stole the number “for fun”, hiding, for example, it under a neighboring car, will face administrative liability - a fine of up to five thousand and arrest for up to fifteen days. Today, numbers are stolen much less often, but the problem has not completely gone away. In order not to fall for the wiring of intruders, each car owner can now receive several licensed copies of the registration plate of his car - and no certificates are required for this, just documents for the car.
Tires and wheels
Last autumn, the capital's employees of the internal affairs bodies sounded the alarm - in Moscow, cases of theft of discs and tires from cars parked on the street have sharply increased. This trend is also observed in other Russian cities. According to law enforcement officers, this kind of theft has not happened since the nineties. It is interesting that the owners of Japanese cars become the most victims of "wheel" thieves. There is only one way to protect your car from such an attack - parking in a safe place. Whether it's a garage or a well-guarded parking lot, kidnappers definitely won't go there.
Caps
The theft of branded wheel covers can hardly cause serious inconvenience to the car owner. And yet, a trifle, but unpleasant. Although the car thief himself is unlikely to count on a large income from the sale of stolen goods - a set of used hubcaps of even the most prestigious car costs only a few thousand rubles. Probably the only thing that pushes irresponsible citizens to this crime is the mechanical simplicity of execution. It will take no more than three minutes for a crook to make all the caps without any tools. So if you are very warm about the branded caps of your car, you can attach them with a bolt to the wheel hub - “cap” thieves will definitely not bother with this.
Video recorders and navigators
In the nineties and early 2000s, the most popular object of kidnapping from a car interior was a radio tape recorder. New generation radios are usually firmly sewn into the center console, so thieves have to look for something else that does not fit well. And badly lie, basically, video recorders and navigators, imprudently left by the owner attached to the windshield. In order not to attract villains, it is better not to leave devices in a conspicuous place, hide them in the glove compartment, or even take them home. The same applies to other valuable items in the car.
headlights
In recent years, you can often see that on a beautiful expensive SUV like the Porsche Cayenne or Volkswagen Touareg there are “not enough” headlights. At the same time, the impeccable condition of the bumpers and the hood clearly hints, "it's not about yesterday's accident." It just so happens that the headlights from these machines are removed very easily - the latch system allows you to pull out the headlights in just a few seconds without tools. And, unlike hubcaps, headlights really cost money - Cayenne owners know that one pair will cost 80-100 thousand. Experienced ones advise to refine the manufacturer’s mistakes: additional fasteners, individual headlight engraving or an alarm “brought” to the headlights are suitable.
Ripping off cars like sticky has been customary since time immemorial. Once upon a time, attackers "dragged" wheels, wipers, rear-view mirrors. Now a few more items have been added to this list. After all, many thieves do not need the whole car, as they say, assembled. They have enough spare parts that can be relatively easy to "attach" for good money.
Registration marks
At one time, there was a real boom in Russia - numbers were “dragged” from almost every oncoming car. Moreover, the population in the city did not play any role. They actively stole both in Moscow and in Vorkuta.
Representatives of the authorities, we must give them their due, then did not lose their heads and very quickly responded to the problem. Now for the deliberate theft of a license plate faces criminal liability. And with it - imprisonment for up to four years. If the attacker simply decided to “joke” and hid the numbers, he will face administrative responsibility - arrest for up to fifteen days plus a fine of up to five thousand rubles.
All this cooled the ardor of the "collectors" of registration plates. But the problem still didn't go away. Indeed, most often the numbers are stolen for a specific purpose, which can greatly backfire on the real owner.
So, a license plate can be useful to a criminal for a stolen car. Others "dig" license plates to drive around the city at night without being afraid of cameras or traffic police officers. After all, "letters of happiness" will be sent to the address of the unsuspecting owner.
For the same reason, license plates can be stolen by criminals who are going to go "on business." True, there are those who simply collect these plates. They mainly encroach on the "beautiful" combination of numbers and letters. So, the owners of "terrible" numbers should not be afraid of them.
Caps
The disappearance of native, original or simply “cool” caps is just a trifle, albeit an unpleasant one. The attacker on the theft of such nonsense is not much enriched. After all, a set of used hubcaps - even a very expensive and solid car - costs a little.
Thieves pay attention to them for two reasons. First, it's simple. The attacker will spend several minutes on all manipulations. Secondly, only complete "lack of fish", that is, lack of money, can push him to steal caps. And a few thousands of proceeds can brighten up the financial picture.
Therefore, car owners who are kind to hubcaps usually attach them with bolts to the wheel hub. Yes, for insurance purposes. Therefore, in this case, the thieves will definitely not waste their time, and will look at the neighboring car.
Tires and wheels
Tire and wheel theft peaked in the 1990s. Then it turned into a real epidemic. Moreover, the criminals, embittered by time and the situation, most often specially spoiled what they could not steal.
And in 2014, history suddenly repeated itself. And not only in the capital, but also in remote provinces. Suffered, as you might guess, cars that spent the night on the street without protection.
Interestingly, for some reason, Japanese cars - Toyotas and Mazdas - became victims of criminals more often than others. Mitsubishi is in third place. Although "under the distribution" fell and other brands.
Why steal tires and wheels is understandable. This is a very popular item. In addition, if the kit is removed from a prestigious car, the attackers are very good at “welding on”. These are not caps to "drive".
Many car owners, trying to protect the car from external encroachments, put "secrets" on the wheels. But, as statistics show, thieves are not very worried. They have long since learned to crack the toughest nuts. Therefore, the most reliable option is not to leave the car on the street alone at night. Garage or secure parking only. "Tire" thieves will not climb there.
headlights
Headlights have recently become very popular with intruders. In most cases, “show-off” and expensive SUVs suffer from the hands of criminals. For example, Porsche Cayenne or Volkswagen Touareg. The same list includes the Volvo XC90. It is their “eyes” that are most often stolen from them.
The creators of these cars literally provoked the criminals themselves. The fact is that the headlights of the above SUVs are quite easy to pull out. The designers came up with such a "cunning" system of latches that the thief will spend only a few seconds on all the manipulations. And, by the way, he does not need tools.
If you recall the same caps, the headlights in comparison with them are a real Eldorado. After all, a set of even old headlights for a conditional "Cayenne" costs under 100 thousand rubles, or even more (depending on the greed of the seller).
So the owners of "cool cars" have to bring their "steel horses" to mind on their own. Someone puts additional fasteners, others “dabble” with marking or engraving, and still others protect their “eyes” with an alarm.
Video recorders and navigators
I think many people remember how in the 1990s, attackers "bombed" cars in order to seize radio tape recorders. Now this business has sunk into oblivion, but "a holy place is never empty." The niche of radio tape recorders was quickly occupied by registrars and navigators left by the owner on the windshield. After all, they “lie badly”, which is what lures intruders. In addition, it will not be difficult to “merge” them later.
In order not to tempt fate, it is better to hide valuable pieces of iron in the glove box. Better yet, take it with you. The same applies to any other valuables in the cabin (phones, bags, wallets). As the saying goes, God saves the safe...
It's time for summer holidays - the most "haymaking" for apartment thieves. Returning from the resort, others are horrified to understand that in their absence, uninvited guests thoroughly ran the house.
However, they can also steal when the owners are at work, at a party or in the country. The victims then torment themselves and each other for a long time with reproaches that they have poorly hidden money, jewelry, equipment or other valuables. Like, if there were a more reliable hiding place, they would never have been found.
But is it possible to construct such an ideal storage in an apartment? And where do our citizens prefer to hide what is acquired by overwork?
Three-liter "bank"
In the country's most famous subdivision of detectives - the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department - Rossiyskaya Gazeta was consulted by senior detective Vadim Kolesnik. He, who uncovered more than one hundred burglaries, told in what sequence thieves usually ransack an apartment and where they most often find valuables.
1. Books. For some reason, the home library is considered a more reliable place to store deposits than savings books. Thieves are often not too lazy to shake volumes, check covers and bindings, make sure there is no secret safe in a bookcase. Sometimes the owners make caskets in the form of books. In vain! A typical picture of the theft is scattered and tormented books, as well as video cassettes and CDs.
2. Vases in a sideboard. They don’t even hide there, but simply put jewelry, money, documents for convenience. They will climb into the sideboard not even in search of a hiding place, but to pick up crystal, sets and other expensive dishes.
3. Lingerie and clothes. Experience shows that in most cases, thieves will shake them to the last sock, probe pillowcases, pockets of dressing gowns and the lining of old jackets.
4. Furniture. Including tables, beds, sofas and pianos. A self-respecting burglar will surely knock out all the cavities, doors, rear and lower walls. Shake up chests of drawers, shelves, drawers, secretaries. He will look under the table, bed and wardrobe, rip up the lining of chairs and armchairs. Do you remember where Ostap Bender was looking for diamonds?
5. Equipment. They can not immediately look for anything in it, but take it away as valuable household appliances. They will find the cache later, during the "pre-sale preparation".
6. Mezzanines. Thieves are not afraid of the abundance of trash. They will drop him to the floor and trample him in search of your treasures.
7. Pictures, mirrors and carpets on the walls. It is naive to stick something with adhesive tape to the back walls. It is even more stupid to cover a safe built into the wall with a picture - it will simply be torn off. And the safe, if it is small, will not even be opened - they will break it out of the wall and take it with them.
8. Kitchen. One should not think that thieves disdain to "diagnose" this production facility. They will not ignore not only cabinets, a table, chairs, a refrigerator, a stove and household appliances, ventilation hatches and shafts, but also jars of cereals, bags of sugar or vegetables. Even the trash can will be emptied - right there, in the kitchen.
9. Bathroom and toilet. This is also not a special guard. They climb into washing machines and flush tanks, squeeze out tubes, break opaque bottles and containers, dismantle plumbing cabinets.
10. Also. Tap walls and floors - parquet, panel, tile, linoleum or insulation - not a hindrance. The ceiling is also checked, especially if it is suspended. Explore the balcony or loggia. Flowers are often uprooted: what if there is a treasure in a pot? Neither children's toys nor musical instruments are spared - after the thieves left, the teddy bears are ruthlessly operated on, the violins are broken, the furs of the accordions are cut.
How to protect yourself from thieves
I will not name those places where thieves are unlikely to find valuables: after all, not only law-abiding citizens read the newspaper. However, there are cases when aliens do not find hidden money. Once upon a time, the valuables were kept almost in plain sight - and safely survived.
But this is a rare exception. After all, apartment thieves are divided into two categories - professionals and novice guest performers. If experienced characters got into the apartment, then you can hardly hide anything valuable from them. They watch the chosen apartment for 3-5 days: they study the routine and habits of the residents, find out the design of the locks, whether there are alarms and dogs. Such an observation can be noticed: the constant "duty" of strangers, their presence on the lower or upper floors, marks under the doors - matches, scraps of paper, signs drawn in chalk.
As a result, thieves will choose a time when no one will interfere with them thoughtfully and slowly to carry out a detailed search. Of all the thefts - such a half. Work carefully, wear gloves, leave no traces. They have a modern set of tools - there are even electronic lock picks for disabling the alarm and electric saws for opening safes.
If amateurs climbed in, then in a hurry they might miss something.
The most reliable remedy for thieves is police protection. There was a case when they retreated from the apartment, barely seeing the alarm panel. Although the system has been disabled for several months for non-payment. Another time, a curious neighbor helped to neutralize the thieves - he looked out for the flickering of a lamp beam in the windows and called 02.
It would be useful to install iron doors with two complex locks. If you have a first or second floor, put bars on the windows. The presence of a concierge reduces the risk of theft.
Do not blow right or left about your well-being. Information can leak to thieves, and they will be interested in you. Especially if drug addicts, alcoholics or difficult teenagers live in your house: they may well turn out to be gunners.
In Moscow alone, 25-30 apartments are robbed every day. On holidays and weekends - 40 - 45. Most often, burglaries occur in residential areas, less often - in the city center.
It is extremely difficult to solve such crimes, especially if only money was stolen. That is, no things with special signs will come up from resellers. In hot pursuit, 5-6 thefts are revealed. A sign of the times: now thieves are easily retrained from ordinary thieves into robbers: if earlier, accidentally catching the owner, they ran away, now they often beat them on the head and continue to rob.
Trap for "bear cub"
It happens that cunning citizens set traps for thieves. For example, almost like in the movie "Beware of the car", a trap is placed in a pile of rags. And then to the casket with family gold or to the safe they bring current, set crossbows and even mine. But more often, the owners themselves or their relatives, who forget or do not know about protective equipment, fall into these traps. In addition, some homemade products can cause a short circuit and a fire, or even blow up the house.
It also happens like this: I hid money somewhere - and forgot it. They wash clothes with money, burn their savings in the oven, throw them away with old unnecessary things. It happened that such absent-minded people gave acquaintances to read a book in which the pages were lined with banknotes.
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Millions of burglaries occur worldwide every year. You should not think that only rich houses of stars and businessmen can become their victims: attackers can penetrate absolutely any dwelling and profit there for a tidy sum. For example, in the United States alone, damage from burglaries in 2016 amounted to more than $3.5 billion.
Since thieves tend to go unnoticed and seek to get rid of stolen goods as quickly as possible, the chances of recovering lost items are low: the detection rate for such crimes is no more than 20%.
However, if you know the vulnerabilities and understand where the attackers “aim” first of all, it is quite possible to avoid troubles or at least significantly reduce the risks.
website collected for you the most common tricks used by thieves, and also talks about how you can protect yourself and your property.
1. Thieves Prefer Easy Targets
To rob an apartment, a thief needs on average 90 seconds to 12 minutes, with much of that time spent looking for valuables and taking them out. Therefore, attackers tend to choose easy targets: apartments on the ground floor, private houses that are hard to see from the street, apartments with poorly closed windows and unlocked doors, etc.
- Always lock your front door into the apartment and into the entrance, as well as windows and balcony doors. If you live on the 1st or 2nd floor, you need to put bars on the windows, and close the windows themselves before leaving or leaving.
- Don't leave your keys under the mat and other secrets known to all. It's best to leave them to neighbors you trust.
- Equip your apartment with an alarm.Thieves can easily cope with many locks using a conventional screwdriver or master keys, but the presence of an alarm in most cases will scare them away.
- Get a dog. To protect the house, a large dog of a fighting breed is not at all necessary: thieves are more likely to be afraid of barking, which can attract unnecessary attention, than that they will be bitten.
- If you live in a private house, the door should be clearly visible from the street and illuminated.
2. Ideal object for hacking - empty houses
3. Attackers can watch the apartment
It is not uncommon for attackers to test the waters before committing a crime. For example, they can bypass apartments under the guise of utility workers to check what time the owners are not at home, and also to look if there is something to profit from in the apartment.
Places checked in this way can be marked by thieves special characters, which are applied to the door or mailbox. These symbols may change from time to time and differ from country to country, however, if you find something similar, this is a reason to beware.
- If a plumber or electrician showed up at your place without warning, it’s better call the management company and clarify whether they sent someone or not. You should not use the number that the uninvited guest announced: the number may be fake.
- Watch closely for suspicious signs on a door or mailbox. If you find them, contact the police.
- Keep keys and valuables out of sight: a thief may only need a quick glance to remember their location.
4. Thieves hunt for small items and know where they usually lie.
Attackers are primarily interested in money, jewelry, electronics and computers. Designer clothes, shoes and bags, perfumes, medicines and weapons can also become prey - all valuable things that can be easily and discreetly taken out of the apartment.
- Keep money in the bank, and jewelry and other valuables in a safe place. Linen drawers, bookcases, shoeboxes, and dish cabinets are not considered safe places: thieves are well aware of all these common hiding places and look there first of all. But they are unlikely to sort out lockers with food and a refrigerator.
- Save to a separate file phone serial numbers, computers and other equipment. Especially valuable items should be marked with an ultraviolet marker. This at least slightly increases the chances of finding stolen items.
5. Attackers actively use social networks
When you post vacation photos on social networks, remember that not only your family and friends can see them, but also those who would like to profit from something in an empty apartment. Attackers can calculate the location of the latter by geotags on photos taken by you at home. Also, social networks are used in order to understand whether it is worth getting into the apartment or not.
- Don't post too much information about yourself online.
- Don't talk about your vacation plans on social networks, do not post photos directly during the holidays.
- Do not post photos of valuables, money and large purchases on social networks.
- Don't add strangers as friends.
Recently, thieves have increasingly begun to turn their attention to such things that may seem to you absolutely unsuitable for extraction. But attackers choose these items for a reason, sometimes even killing people for them and endangering the lives of several thousand more innocent citizens.
Usually, unusual objects come to the attention of thieves after they become very rare and valuable for some reason. Although in some cases it is very difficult to understand why criminals even began to hunt these things. If you have any of these items, you may need to be concerned about your safety.
10. Avocado
In New Zealand, a real boom in the theft of avocados has begun. Outsiders constantly climb into private gardens and rob farmers on their own land. The most high-profile case was the one-time theft of an avocado crop for a total of as much as 68 thousand dollars, and the stolen fruits did not even have time to ripen. The criminal scheme usually involves the sale of stolen avocados to local speculators, who then resell the production to ordinary citizens.
It would seem that this is not gold or diamonds. Why would anyone rob farmers? But recently the price of avocados in New Zealand has increased too much, and import laws for the same fruit have become much tougher. In addition, most New Zealand farmers have begun to export their crops abroad, leaving only a small fraction of the product for local consumers. Around the world, avocados are becoming an increasingly popular product, which led criminals to think about the profitability of stealing this particular fruit. The New Zealand police increased the number of patrols in the area of vegetable and fruit shops, which even forced the criminals to move to Facebook to sell stolen avocados directly on the Internet.
9. Gravestones
Photo: AP/Ariana Cubillos
In Venezuela, things are very difficult now, the country is in an economic crisis, and because of this, the crime rate is only growing. Thieves began to steal almost everything that is badly lying. Some enterprising criminals even began to rob cemeteries. They rob the mourners right during the funeral and raid the graves after all the ceremonies. Most often, any scrap metal is taken away from the cemetery, but sometimes even the bones of the deceased are stolen, which are then resold to followers of occult practices.
Probably one of the most unexpected targets of the "tomb raiders" is tombstones. In just the past few months, about 6,000 tombstones have been stolen from just one cemetery in Venezuela. There are still about 200,000 tombstones left in the same cemetery, which means that thieves will certainly come back here more than once. The cemetery administration independently dismantled some valuable tombstones in order to save them from intruders. They say that they will be replaced with cheaper plastic counterparts.
8. Oil
Mexican drug cartels have added oil theft to their list of crimes. Criminals turned their attention to this source of income for several reasons. Fuel in Mexico is one of the key export commodities and the main way to earn foreign exchange. In addition, the government's ongoing crackdown on drugs has made this illegal business more dangerous and less profitable. And unlike drugs, which usually have to be shipped to other countries for sale, oil can be sold directly in Mexico, which is much easier and more convenient in every sense.
Most often, oil is stolen directly from the pipelines of the state oil and gas company Pemex, through which the bulk of all oil products in the country pass. In order to get information about fuel supplies, bandits intimidate to death, kidnap, torture and kill the workers of this oil refinery. The drug cartel usually offers its captives 2 choices: money or. One Pemex employee who refused to help the perpetrators was abducted and stabbed so badly that he had to have his gallbladder removed. Later, the same man was completely forced to move to Canada in order to get rid of the persecution of bandits.
Salamanca is the city where the largest factory of the Pemex corporation is located, and over the past few years the number of murders has increased greatly here. The most common victims are police officers, refinery workers, and the thieves themselves. Competing criminals often unleash real bloody massacres in order, as in the case of the drug trade, to subjugate a specific territory and trade there with autocracy.
7. Catalytic converter
Photo: Ahanix1989
Catalytic converters have been a standard part of every car since 1975. These devices are installed in the exhaust system of the machine and are designed to reduce the toxicity of exhaust gases. The converter performs its function due to the presence in it of such metals as platinum, palladium and rhodium. It is for these metals that criminals are hunting. They sell stolen converters to scrap metal processing bases from 100 to 150 dollars per unit, and the employees of these ruins independently extract the metals they need.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau reports that cases of theft of catalytic converters have increased in America since 2009. In a year, the police receive complaints about the theft of more than 4,000 converters, and in fact, at least several thousand such cases still do not fall into the official statistics.
Catalytic converters are the most easily accessible part of a car for thieves. They are easy to reach without climbing into the car, and the robber only needs a compact chainsaw to saw off the part and disappear from the scene. In just a minute, your car can be left without this part, and you will only know about it when you start the engine, because your car will sound much louder.
6. Copper
The US Department of Energy estimates that as much as a billion dollars worth of copper is stolen from this country every year. In 2018, the US National Insurance Crime Bureau reported that over the past 3 years, copper theft accounted for 98% of all 28,000 reported cases of industrial metal theft. The increased popularity of copper in criminal circles was a natural consequence of the rising price of this metal. The dependence is literally direct proportional.
Copper is also often targeted by thieves because, unlike other metals, it is much more widely used and therefore easier to find. Copper can be found almost everywhere: in every home, on the streets and in cars. In June 2018, one thief even died at the scene of a crime after he was electrocuted when he climbed a lamppost for a copper wire. In May 2015, trains were seriously delayed on one of the New York subway lines due to the theft of almost 150 meters of copper wire. Usually 775,000 people travel this route a day, so it's easy to imagine how many people suffered because of thieves then.
In April 2008, an automated public address system failed to warn residents of Jackson, Mississippi about an impending tornado because someone simply stole the copper wires from local sirens. In February 2008, almost 4,000 residents of Polk County, Florida (Polk, Florida), were left without power because someone stole the copper wire from the central transformer. In 2007, communications between aircraft and air traffic controllers in Ohio were also compromised by the theft of 90 meters of copper wire serving the control tower.
5. Vanilla
Photo: Reuters/Clarel Faniry Rasoanaivo
In Madagascar, law-abiding farmers are suffering from vanilla-stealing criminals. Madagascar is the world's largest producer of vanilla and is where the world's most sought-after vanilla grows. Over the past year, the price of Madagascar vanilla has risen from $100 per kilo to $635 and then dropped to $530! It was such a sharp rise in prices that attracted the attention of criminals to this industry. Armed robbers are constantly raiding farms and picking someone else's vanilla crop.
In response, farmers also began to arm themselves with homemade guns, spears, stones and organize joint patrols with the police. Some farmers even spend the night in the fields to catch thieves who come under the cover of darkness. Criminals who fall into the hands of farmers often become victims of lynching. Those who are the police are much more lucky - they end up in prison, and not in the grave or hospital. From 2017 to 2018, police arrested and jailed over 1,000 vanilla hunters.
The sharp increase in the price of this crop in Madagascar is easily explained by the severe drought and cyclone that hit the island in 2017. A third and often overlooked reason is money laundering. Criminals illegally cut down pink trees (or rosewoods) and take this expensive wood out of the country under the guise of vanilla. They say that in this case, the criminals are working closely with the authorities.
The first wave of vanilla crime hit Madagascar in 2017, forcing most farmers to harvest their crops earlier than usual. As a result, the quality of the harvested vanilla for which Madagascar is so famous suffered. Some importers have even returned the vanilla they purchased, prompting the government to ban premature harvesting.
However, some farmers still intend to harvest vanilla early to protect their labor and income from thieves. Unfortunately, because of this, the local police are now busy not only arresting the thieves, but also making sure that the farmers are not in a hurry to harvest their crops.
4. Waste bins
At the beginning of 2018, ordinary trash cans began to disappear in Manhattan, sometimes even with their contents. For what? It's probably because each 125-kilogram urn cost the city $1,000, although the idea is that thieves won't be able to sell their booty for more than $22 if the scrap collectors agree to accept such goods at all.
In other areas of New York, a similar problem arose last year, and with cheaper trash cans. They weighed only 15 kilograms each and cost $125 new. Theoretically, criminals will not be able to get more than $ 2 apiece for them. The New York City Department of Sanitary Inspection denies any such theft.
A department spokeswoman said the bins were simply moved to other locations by the city's residents, although she still had to admit that 100 wastebaskets disappeared forever in a year. How? Unknown. In addition to the apparent contradiction in the department's statements, it is surprising that it was this employee who spoke about the theft of the urns, and not another person who is responsible for such issues.
3. Sand
Sardinia is famous for some of the cleanest and most beautiful beaches in all of Italy, so it's no surprise that tourists often try to take home a handful of local sand as a souvenir. However, this practice has become so widespread that local authorities called it a real disaster. Small bottles and bags of sand are poured one after the other into whole tons of sand, which is found in the luggage of vacationers returning home.
The Italian authorities even had to impose a ban on the export of sand from local beaches under penalty of a fine of up to 3 thousand euros. Information boards have appeared on the Italian coasts warning of the new law. In addition, vigilantes now patrol the beaches, making sure that no one tries to secretly pour sand into their bag. In addition to sand, tourists also like to take pebbles and shells with them.
2. Toilet paper
Photo: Ng Han Guan/AP
In China, toilet paper theft has become a real national problem. For some reason, local residents are very fond of taking it out of public toilets. Many Chinese establishments have even stopped leaving paper in their toilets, due to the fact that it simply cannot be stocked.
The Temple of Heaven Park in Beijing has come up with an interesting solution to the problem - now local toilet paper dispensers are equipped with facial recognition technology. Before using the toilet at the temple complex, its visitors now receive 60 centimeters of toilet paper only after the device takes their photo. To combat the abuse of public toilets, the mechanism dispenses the same amount of paper to the same person no more than at 9-minute intervals. The appearance of such dispensers caused a lot of criticism from the public, because many considered 60 centimeters to be an insufficient amount of paper, and few people like to be photographed at the entrance to the restroom. By the way, high-tech dispensers cost the park administration as much as $720 apiece.
1. Water
During the 2014 drought in California, thieves began stealing water. People simply stole it from private cisterns, rivers and fire stations. The most unpleasant thing is that one of these affected areas was responsible for extinguishing forest fires, and the theft became known in the midst of the fire element. Most of these crimes were committed by citizens illegally growing marijuana. For these plantations, they needed water, and the criminals did not hesitate to steal it even from the rescuers.
In the UK, Thames Water, a water supply, sewerage and wastewater service provider in London and other parts of England, has been hit hard by water theft. The theft was so serious that the company even hired a team of private detectives to find the intruders. From 2011 to 2017, water theft incidents in London and Thames Water increased from 33 to 734 incidents. Every year the criminals managed to steal 2-3 million liters of water. However, not only the loss of water was a problem - the company was also fined large sums for the loss of such an important resource.
The exact amount of stolen water is still unknown, so the Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) categorizes the losses of companies as water leaks, for which appropriate fines are due. In 2017, Thames Water Corporation received the highest ever fine of £8.55 million.
