Police warn bargain hunters on resale sites are fuelling organised shoplifting

Police have warned that bargain hunters using Vinted, eBay, Facebook Marketplace and similar resale platforms are unwittingly helping organised shoplifting gangs.

Criminal networks routinely use online marketplaces to offload goods stolen from high street shops, and consumers are being urged to question heavily discounted items sold as new.

Superintendent Lisa Maslen, who leads the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC), told The Telegraph that organised gangs were “exploiting women and children” to take products from shops, which were then sold through online listings that looked legitimate.

She said clothing listed as “brand new with tags” could be a particular warning sign, especially when it was priced well below its retail value.

“If it seems too good to be true and too good a price, then you know there’s something wrong. Trust your instincts,” Maslen said.

She urged consumers to consider the wider effects of buying possibly stolen goods, warning that demand was sustaining criminal activity on Britain’s high streets.

In January Maslen will host a summit with Home Office officials and representatives of Gumtree, Vinted and Facebook Marketplace, focused on the growing use of resale sites by organised crime groups.

Research commissioned by the NBCC with Home Office backing found that shoplifting stayed profitable because criminals were able to turn stolen stock into cash quickly via online marketplaces, rogue businesses and other resale routes.

The report called for police, retailers and platforms to cooperate more closely in disrupting the networks that handle stolen goods.

The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) has also called on marketplaces to take more responsibility for stopping stolen products being sold on their platforms. Its chief executive, Andrew Goodacre, has previously said that disrupting the markets that make theft pay matters as much as catching offenders.

More than 500,000 shoplifting offences are currently recorded each year in England and Wales.

Joanne Thomas, general secretary of Usdaw, said shop theft had risen twofold since the pandemic and that offenders were becoming bolder and more organised.

eBay said stolen goods are banned from its platform and that it uses technology to detect suspicious activity, while also helping police with investigations.