Criminals suck. Not only do they make me jealous by living lives free of society's social structures, they also have been focusing their nefarious attention on video game consoles lately. According to the FBI, the theft of video game systems jumped 285% over the last three years, to 42,615 in 2009. Computer laptops reported stolen rose 32%, to 128,280 in 2009 too. Nice job, criminals; way to pick on gamers and geeks.
As you might expect, game systems and home electronics are good targets for thievery because they're easy to carry, usually not locked up, and can be unloaded quickly.
"Criminals are rational. They steal things that have high value, are easily transportable and easily sold," Larry J. Siegel, a criminologist at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, told USA Today. "The most expensive thing in my house is my refrigerator, but nobody is trying to steal my refrigerator."
So here's a pro-tip from TheFeed: Store all game systems and electronics in your refrigerator. Robbers will be fooled, and your gear will never overheat.
Have you ever had anything stolen by miscreants? I never have, although I once pawned my Nintendo 64. They gave me 35 bucks, when it was new, which is a kind of robbery. I paid the nice pawn man back a couple weeks later and my 64 was returned -- crisis averted!
Source: USA Today
Comments are Closed
Comments
Displaying 1–20 of 30
122
Snarf04rab
I had two 360's and a TV stolen. Once from a house in Houston, and then the other xbox from a house in Arlington, TX. The one that was stolen in Houston was recovered by the police from a pawn shop because I had kept track of the SN#. Keep track of the SN#'s for all electronics, the police do catch these guys sometimes.
ProudFilipino
Im about to move back to the States so when I get back Im making sure I hide my PS3, Games, and Blu Rays before I got to sleep and make sure they are locked too
Wozman23
BlackStarNova, that reminds me, once at work someone stole my sandwich that I brought for lunch. That's the lowest of lows.
BlackStarNova
A few years back, I had my cell phone stolen out of my locker at work. Whoever stole it gave it to their kid cuz a few weeks later I got a call from the school board saying they found my phone on one of their buses. Whoever swiped it didn't bother to erase all the contacts out of my phone before giving it to their kid.....
ParanoiDave
I got my PS3 stolen a few years ago, by my own neighbor. I returned home to see the idiot breaking into his own house, as he had forgotten to take his keys out with him. When I asked him what he was trying to do, I noticed the PS3, which was kindly in its original packaging. Embarrassed as hell, he returned it. As I went inside, I looked around. He coujld have taken anything: My PC, Wii, or my Xbox 360 (when I had one back then), but none of them were even touched. What a fanboy!
Raisinbman
I don't have any amazing theft stories to tell, hopefully I don't get thumbs-downed for this:
I had my Game Informer stolen from me back in middle school. Luckily they(pretty blatantly) used markers to X out my personal info, so with a little cleaning I knew it was mine.
In college, I haven't had any games stolen so far(hopefully I won't EVER) but my old roommate was a party animal, and my jar of peanuts(the eating kind) got stolen. I know, it's not much, but it's proof what the guys said above me is true: don't invite people you don't really know in your room!
B00M_HeadShot
Me? No, but my friends had three of his consoles stolen and one of times he was even in his house!! :O
batmandrew
Someone stole my PSP out of my car. I guess it's my fault for leaving it in there. It was in my glove compartment and they probably wouldn't even have known it was in there if it wasn't connected to the FM transmitter and the cord was sticking out... then they had the gull to smoke in my car while they were stealing it! I mean, COME ON!!
darthallen417
I have had many things stolen from me, and I have always been able to replace them. It is unfortunate that people people that work hard for thier down time. If any one reading this learns anything from this article, locks are good, but locks and renters insurance are better. You can still get renters insurance if own your home too, after a deductable it will usually cover every thing that was stol;en from you and at least allow you to get your things back newer and shinier too.
Circle77
5 years ago, my neighbors niece and boyfriend broke into my roommates house and stole my xbox and games and a lot more stuff from my other 2 roommates rooms. My neighbor, (the uncle) got it back from her boyfriend when they ran into them at a pool hall and saw it in the back seat of his car and grabbed it when he confronted them. Pretty cool!
Earlier this year my apartment was broken into (possibly the trashy neighbors next door) and my xbox 360 along with 12 games and guitar controllers were taken. It sucked!! A lot of other stuff was taken too and I never did get it back.
Bright side is that I now have the MW2 360 edition which is pretty cool.
edgeofblade
I guess I'd tell thieves that video games make us violent and teach us how to use guns.
Rob me at your own risk...
kujel
Something like this happened to a buddy of mine once, he let a guy crash on his couch one night and it turned out he was a meth addict who jacked his Xbox and a bunch of games (a few I lent him for a bit).
the_azure_knight
Moral of the story carry something heavy and blunt next to your bedside just in case someone ever breaks into your home
ressurrector
I find it ironic that the majority of "petty" thefts of these items occur from just people "chilling" at your crib who you THINK are your friends and help themselves to your electronics soon as you walk out the room.........
YET, these same people wont steal a friggan pencil from the store cause they dont have the balls and aint slick enough.......
Some tho are just hardcore kleptos and would steal anything from you at anytime they can, regardless of what it is.
The "blood" comment above was a good analogy. I will add 1 "If you run with thieves you WILL be burned by thieves" trust me
The bottom line is pay CLOSE attention to who you let in your home. Try to avoid big gatherings/parties at your crib. And something I do is frequently do like a quick lil inventory of things and IF things are missing? Calculate the time you think it was grabbed and who was over and narrow it down. Bout all one can do minus security cameras I guess.
T_Bone_1976
Renters insurance costs about $15.00 a month here in NY. It's well worth it. My brothers had all 3 current-gen systems stolen when their apt was burglarized, along with 25 or so games, and a couple of cell phones. They also neglected to get renters insurance, and had to shell out over a grand to replace their loss.
T_Rexx
4 yrs ago my house was broken into, they stole my PS2 with all the games I had including dvd's shoes, slippers and a travel bag to put them into. I was sooo pissed I walked the neighborhood inquiring from the guys on the street if they saw anything.... they all said no. "JERKS"!
Wozman23
Never had a break in at the house, but my car was broken into back when I was in college. I lived in the dorms so I didn't drive much. After a week of school I walked out to the parking lot to find my locks busted and the trunk open. I lost a radio, 2 amps, and a set of pretty nice subs.
I was pretty pissed, but I learned a lot from it, like: Write down your stuffs serial numbers. And don't buy nice audio equipment before an alarm. And even then, don't blast said audio equipment in places where you think it may get stolen.
IN_YO_FACE
People seem to not understand steeling is wrong until they see their own blood catch my drift :)
EKG
I too, Mr. Johnson, have also had my property stolen. I just walking with my PS3 and about 10 games. The next thing I know, they ripped them from my hands, and told my I could get $33 for everything. Being as I was staring at a copy of Mass Effect, for which I was about $30 short, I obliged them.
I walked away with Mass Effect, which turned out to be the best game I have ever played, but I lost something even greater, I lost my innocence.
I will never forget that day. I tried to file a police report, but I was told that there was nothing they could do. Those thieves walked away with all my stuff, and they probably made atleast a $100 profit. However, some good came from the robbery, I know now to use EBay.
cmdluke
my house was broken into back in april. they took my ps3, psp, my iphone, my wifes blackberry and a few games. broke in while we were upstairs sleeping.
Displaying 1–20 of 30
122