Ever heard the phrase "Crime doesn't pay"?

[draco664]

Well, a couple of chaps have discovered that crime can be pretty darn expensive...

Three mates broke into a rich bugger's house and stole his cars. A BMW 7-Series, a Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano and a one-off Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Sang Bleu.

Mmmm, Bugatti Veyron...

They planned to drive them from Switzerland to Poland, going by way of Germany. Only, as Switzerland (where the cars were registered) isn't a member of the EU, at the German border they immediately attracted a 10% tariff and a 19% import duty.

So two of them got caught (one dumped the car and escaped before they got nabbed) and the cars were returned. But even so, they are sill on the hook for over half a million in duties...

I literally laughed out loud when I read that.

Link

[gremcint]

I remember reading a thing a while back where some people did the math and the punishments for certain crimes vs how much you'd make full time minimum wage and you'd be better off with the minimum wage job.

[Andara Bledin]

The reason people pick crime over honest work is that they get the bonus of feeling clever (even if they're not clever at all) for cheating the system, or something.

And, yeah, for some crimes, you'd make more by walking people's dogs.

[catcul]

Well, a couple of chaps have discovered that crime can be pretty darn expensive...

Sometimes, committing crimes can cost you a lot of money; sometimes, it can cost you a lot more than money. That guy absolutely deserved what he got.

[protege]

The reason people pick crime over honest work is that they get the bonus of feeling clever (even if they're not clever at all) for cheating the system, or something.

Some people enjoy thinking that they got one over on someone/the system. That's why a former classmate of mine is now in jail. I've posted about this guy before on CS.

Anyway, he thought that he was a genius, and everyone else was an idiot. He thought that he could rip off one of his law clients to the tune of $50,000, cover it up by doctoring their books, and nobody would notice. Didn't work out that way. Seems that said client had a check bounce, went to the bank to see and the truth came out. He got caught...and things went seriously downhill. After the story came out, he lost the rest of his clients, got disbarred, got fined heavily, his wife left him...and that was before the trial. He cannot work in the industry now, and the only job that he can get...is at McDonald's. Minimum wage kinda puts a dent in one's ability to make payments on the Mercedes and expensive suburban house. So he lost that too.

What had the rest of us puzzled, is that he made well over $50,000 a year. He threw away a good job, all in the name of a few dollars. With that said, was the feeling of "being clever" really worth it?

I'd have to say no. Keep in mind that this dude considered me as "inferior" since he didn't think I was as "smart" as him. So technically...that means I am. I mean, I still have my shitty job, I don't have the stigma of being a "con" following me around the rest of my life. I mean, as soon as the story broke, the entire class (even those who don't live here now) knew about it. Plus, I don't have to deal with "drop the soap" comments at reunions. If that's the case, I made out like a freaking bandit

[MadMike]

Years ago, when I was fairly new at karaoke, one of the regulars, who worked at another bar, announced that he was having a karaoke contest. I forget what the prizes were, but they were nice enough that I entered. I paid the $5 entry fee, as several other people did, and didn't think anything more of it until the day of the contest.

On the day of the contest, we all showed up at the bar, and the guy was nowhere to be found. We waited about an hour, and then left. We found out later that the guy never intended to hold a contest, and just took everyone's $5 and ran. I think he made of with a hundred dollars or so, which I'm sure he was feeling pretty good about, until the bar where he worked found out what he had done, and fired him for it.

[Kelmon]

I remember reading a thing a while back where some people did the math and the punishments for certain crimes vs how much you'd make full time minimum wage and you'd be better off with the minimum wage job.

Of course, on average. The problem is the same as the one with lottery tickets: People don't understand maths and think that they will be the winner that gets a lot of money out of it.

[Boozy]

The reason people pick crime over honest work is that they get the bonus of feeling clever (even if they're not clever at all) for cheating the system, or something.

Compelling theory, but I think it's because these fuck-ups can't hold down real jobs. Jobs that require you to be in a certain place at a certain time. In clean clothes and not high.

My husband is a private investigator and is often tasked with making undercover purchases from criminals. Buying things like stolen or pirated goods for clients looking for evidence to build a civil case. 80% of the time, these losers don't show up for the first arranged meeting. Or the second. They eventually manage to drag themselves out of bed for the third or fourth. A meeting at which someone is waiting to give them a large wad of cash.

Mr. Boozy often says that the only sales these idiots make is to undercover cops or PI's. No one else would bother dealing with them.

[HYHYBT]

More basic than that: they expect not to be caught.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Sounds like the girl who got nabbed at my petrol station for using a stolen credit card. She did it once, came back... and got nicked then. It was the fact that she came back at all that made it stupid. We were suspicious, but had she stayed away it would have been forgotten.

[smileyeagle1021]

More basic than that: they expect not to be caught.

Exactly, the same flawed logic that tells people that "someone has to be the lottery and it might as well be me" (though, there is some truth if they were to say and it could be me) tells criminals "the police can't catch them all, no reason they'd catch me"

[Pixilated]

Sometimes, committing crimes can cost you a lot of money; sometimes, it can cost you a lot more than money. That guy absolutely deserved what he got.

As does this guy, even if it turns out to be no more than a lot of sleepless nights waiting for the test results to come back.

*snip*

On the day of the contest, we all showed up at the bar, and the guy was nowhere to be found. We waited about an hour, and then left. We found out later that the guy never intended to hold a contest, and just took everyone's $5 and ran. I think he made of with a hundred dollars or so, which I'm sure he was feeling pretty good about, until the bar where he worked found out what he had done, and fired him for it.

Well, that brings back some memories ... I'm a member of an online group on which, several years ago, a member said she could get us some themed 'jelly bracelets' at a low cost. A lot of people sent in a few bucks (I was one of them). She posted a couple of weeks later to say there had been a mixup in the order but she was hoping to get it straightened out soon. Shortly after that she just ... vanished. To this day we've never heard from her and to this day there are still people in the group who refuse to believe we were taken in -- they're certain something awful happened and they just know this person would never do anything dishonest.

And like the karaoke guy, she got away with maybe $200 maximum.

[HYHYBT]

In that case, it's *possible* that she was taken in herself and that, either unable or unwilling to refund out of her own pocket and figuring she'd be thought a thief anyway, she thought vanishing the simplest solution.