As the crime crisis worsens across the country, with hundreds of stores in major cities being targeted by mass looting attacks, some of the criminals who engage in organized theft have turned to the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok to teach looting techniques to their followers.
According to the New York Post, such videos appear under the hashtag “borrow tip and tricks,” which has accumulated 8.9 billion views as various “borrowers” share their methods for carrying out such criminal acts.
“Today I went to the mall so I’m going to show you what I borrowed,” said a user by the name of @borrowingqueen. Another user named @b0rrowing.t1ngz ranked stores based on how easy they are to steal from; the list puts Walmart, Walgreens, and Dollar Tree at the top for easiest to loot, while Target, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Sephora are ranked as harder to hit.
The user who gave the ranking then provided additional tips for theft, such as stealing small items first, heading to the restroom to remove the items from their packaging, and avoiding “suspicious” behavior such as looking around for security cameras.
Some of these videos are even being posted by current retail workers, providing information from the inside. One such clip, with over 7.1 million views, was posted by a Target employee who advised potential looters to avoid targeting the same store multiple times.
Mass looting has become a widespread problem in the United States, and particularly in states and cities run by Democrats who favor soft-on-crime policies. California in particular, having recently implemented a law which does not make it a crime to steal as long as the value of the stolen goods remains under $950, has seen a spike in looting even in luxury stores in such cities as Los Angeles. Combined with various bail reform laws that often see criminals released immediately after their arrest, and the penalties for such acts are now lower than ever before.
Looting and organized shoplifting has ultimately cost retail companies a total of over $100 billion, and has led to many prominent stores shutting down flagship locations in large cities due to being unable to combat the rise in crime.