Okay, I haven’t been doing this for long, but I’ve been doing reasonably well, especially since the pre/during Christmas period is when I’ve done the bulk of my magic. I’ve fucked up a few times. I’ve beeped. I’ve hit locations more frequently than I should have, and when I haven’t known what I’m walking into. But I still haven’t been suspected, or caught.
And I’m gonna say this because I know there are a few new lifters around:
Here’s what I’m offering:
Know yourself
Know your limits. Don’t get cocky. Don’t get over-ambitious. When I first got to the online lifting community, I saw epic hauls, and yeah, I was like, “This is awesome. I want to do this.” But I also know my own limitations. Obviously I’m not going to walk out with a designer handbag the first time I lift: you need to ease yourself into it.
Educate yourself
Especially for the US lifters, there is a wealth of information out there on tag types used in stores, company policy, etc. Read it. Be a little sponge for information in your early days, and remember things.
Adapt to new environments
You may not know how everything works, but look and learn. One of the best tactics is to scope out things in a non-sus way. Keep an eye on where cameras are, and assume that all of them are monitored. Remember that while your eyes can move, your body doesn’t have to. This also goes for blindspots: temporary displays, or cages being unpacked, can create perfect blindspots for you. Distracted staff who are presumably not going to be shoplifted in front of might have their back turned, creating perfect opportunities for you. Remember, a lot of security is based around how they think lifters work and this doesn’t account for people doing things like concealing when someone had their back turned or utilising a cage in front of a camera. Physical blindspots are one thing, but *human* blindspots are something else entirely.
Be aware of your body language
Don’t rush and fidget after lifting. Don’t give any indication that you’re nervous. Gear yourself into autodrive; convince yourself that you’re just browsing, and continue that mindset immediately before and after concealing. “Forget” that you’ve concealed once you have. Learn how to do things with your hands without actually looking at your hands: this is super important for peeling off RFIDs on the floor, as well as concealing.
Be Quick
Don’t fuck around with packaging (don’t be scared to leave something on the shelf if you don’t think you can untag it) in a way that’s noisy or complicated or is going to require lots of messing around. Don’t lift in ways that mean unnaturally adjusting your bag or clothing. If you put your hand into a pocket, pulling out a phone rather than nothing is a better idea. The aim is to be fluid and natural.
Get out if you feel sussed
I don’t give a shit if you’re missing out on something you really want, the moment you make a certain eye contact with the certain wrong somebody– and trust me, you will know that look– ditch what they have seen and get the fuck out. You can get that something elsewhere. It’s not worth ruining your future for a bottle of foundation.
Pay attention to staff
Watch out for who’s working when you lift or suss out a shop. Don’t rely on them forgetting you. And the moment you feel recognised? Get out. And aim not to return for a long time. There are a few places I won’t be going back to for awhile, but I was smart enough to make sure they weren’t places I frequent anyway. Don’t count on your “well, I got away that time” meaning that you’re going to be safe the next time you go in.
Bullshit
Learn to conceal well and bullshit. Learn how to move the contents of your bag aside, concealing what you’ve jacked. Learn how to breezily roll your eyes about something you bought elsewhere that sets off alarms. Learn how to act like normal people would in any ordinary situation. Fluster, be embarassed, you have no idea what’s going on. Humans are social creatures who empathise and generally will interact well with people who are “nice.” Be nice. Be everything they want you to be, and they won’t want you to be one of the “bad guys”.
Make use of diversion
If you offer up your handbag for inspection and are carrying bags of groceries, odds are likely that you’re not going to be asked to reveal the contents of the grocery bags. Look at where people are directing their line of sight, and work out how to do things out of that line of sight. Learn how to “look” at one product while you’re concealing another one.
Learn where the weak points are
Nine times out of ten, humans are the weakest link in every security system. Know when staff are going to be distracted because they’re exhausted/bored/busy. Know where to hit human empathy. Know where to hit blindspots. Find that untagged item or changeroom consultant who doesn’t count, while you have an extra item concealed under a mountain of clothing. Most SAs are not naturally suspicious unless something tweaks their alarm bells. Don’t tweak their alarm bells.
Start Small
Seriously, don’t aim for high-end makeup palettes just yet. Maybe a lipstick is a good starter. Wear long sleeves, get a sense of sleight of hand and acting normal first. Get comfortable with what you’re doing.
Aim for improvement
No matter how good you are, you can always do better. Not in terms of stuff acquired, in terms of subtlety and timing and technique. Every time you lift, once you’re out of the danger zone, reflect on what you’ve done. Look at it as though you’re watching a video of how you did it, and work out where you fucked up. Make sure you never make the same mistake again. Making mistakes is fine, and part of the learning process, as long as you actually learn from them and don’t get your arse busted while doing so.
Take breaks
Don’t lift daily. Don’t lift when you’re in the middle of anxiety or something awful has happened. Even if you get away clean, you’re going to feel it for awhile afterwards. I get that lifting CAN ease negative feelings, but when you’re emotional and out of control, that’s when you’re liable to fuck up. Use the prospect of getting out to lift again as a motivation to get your headshit together by all means, but make sure you’re operating at full capacity when you hit. The best situation, otherwise, is getting out with stuff, but wondering how you did it, and being haunted. The typical situation is leaving empty handed. The worst? Getting caught. All three of these are not ideal situations.
Don’t do what they’re expecting you to do
This is basically the crux of it: don’t act like what people think a “typical lifter” is. Dressing well is part of it. But another part of it is knowing what items are likely to get lifted, and not pointedly going for them. Another part is controlling your body language– your thoughts, even– and being normal. Another part is not returning to the scene of a huge haul because you know it’s “easy.” Being polite and friendly rather than evasive and suss, when talked to, will make you look far less suspicious than if they’re already onto you and you are annoyed or aggressive. Hell, you might get people THINKING you look suss, but convincing themselves that you’re not because they’ve watched you and you’re just a bit OCD or awkward rather than lifting. They know you. You’re fiiine.
Look at how you leave stock
If you’re going to leave packaging anywhere, return it to in the middle of the items on display, packaged up fine, like you opened it to look at the item and then returned it. Don’t leave it somewhere random, and don’t leave it at the front or the back: that’s obvious. Leave it where it’s not going to draw attention for some time. If you’re going to leave rubbish, make sure it looks like rubbish (rather than a destroyed tag) or is well hidden. If you have to double-tag, double-tag in inconspicuous spots, like inside a pocket of an item that you never even took into a dressing room. If that changeroom you walked into had no hangers in it, don’t leave any. Grab stock from the back of a section rather than the front, or if you do that, face it forward: remember, a lot of LP will look at stock rather than customers, and if something it missing in an otherwise tidy area that you were in, it can look suss.
Work out how you work best
I prefer working alone. I probably have trust issues to the point where I don’t want to rely on anyone. Sleight of hand and bullshit are probably my best skills. I would prefer to take a little longer in a shop and be recognised, but also to be thought of as a bit of a weirdo rather than a suss lifter. And I treat every other person, camera, point of observation, etc, as a potential risk.
And that’s not necessarily going to be everyone’s best technique. A huge part of this is knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and basically maximising and minimising accordingly. Since we’re all different, we’re all going to have different ways of doing things that feel comfortable for us: the thing is that you’ve got to feel comfortable. If, say, you’re more of an in-out ninja type, you’re not going to feel as comfy talking to people. You need to work out what actually works for you, and resembles something close to normal.
Practise
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