Hide Your Stuff, Lock Your Car: Black Friday Is Also A Pretty Big Day For Thieves

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Black Friday is not only a big day for shoppers, with stores throwing open their doors early (or staying open all night since they opened on Thanksgiving) and the mad marketing blitz of discounts, sales and deals coming at you from every angle, but it’s a pretty fruitful day for thieves, as well.

Thefts on Black Friday are on average 2% higher than on any other Friday, or any day of the year, for that matter, according to analysis of theft claims by insurance company Travelers (via Fortune) over the past seven years.

You’ll want to make sure you’re extra careful with your purchases on that day as you stow your booty in your car parked in the mall parking lot: when those claims are broken down to look at off-premise thefts, which means the incidents happened away from home, Black Friday thefts are 28% higher than on any other day.

“On Black Friday, thieves are just much more focused on the opportunity than on a regular basis,” Patrick Gee, senior vice president at Travelers, told Fortune.

It’s no surprise that thieves zero in on vehicles with purchases loaded into them, with clothing and apparel 40% more likely to get stolen on Black Friday than other Fridays of the year, while toys are three times more likely to be stolen. Somewhat unexpectedly, theft of electronic items — which are often the focus of many holiday sales — isn’t much different on Black Friday than on other days.

If you don’t trust your fellow citizens to leave your car alone at the mall, even with all your purchases shoved under coats and blankets in an attempt to hide the goodies, then you can always go shopping online as well. However, then you’ll have to keep an eye on your front porch to ward off holiday package thieves.

More Thefts Happen on Black Friday Than on Any Other Day [Fortune]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist