Long Holiday Travel? ... "Erase the Signs Your Home Is Empty"

70.6% of Theft Crimes Occur at Night

As people leave their homes for an extended period over the Lunar New Year holiday, concerns are growing over home burglary. In particular, if it becomes clear that a house is empty because flyers are piling up in the mailbox or parcels are left in front of the door, the home can become more vulnerable to crime, so caution is needed. Recently, due to the economic downturn, so-called "livelihood theft" targeting cash has been rampant.

According to an analysis by the S1 Crime Prevention Research Center of theft cases that resulted in actual damage over the past three years (2022 to 2024), "small-amount theft" involving less than 1 million won accounted for 81.8% of all cases. Cash made up 79.8% of the theft targets, and cigarettes and groceries were also major targets. Most of these crimes are committed for livelihood.

Image of a thief. Pixabay

Thieves tend to strike during late-night hours. An analysis of the time of occurrence of theft crimes showed that cash theft cases that occurred at night accounted for 72.9% of the total. Incidents that occurred between midnight and 6 a.m. made up an overwhelming 70.6%. This was followed by 6 p.m. to midnight at 19.9%, and 6 a.m. to noon at 6.7%.

During long holidays when homes are left vacant for a long time, it becomes even easier to be targeted by such theft. The police advise that, when going out for an extended period, people should thoroughly check even small gaps such as milk slots and windows. This is because recent livelihood theft tends to target items that can be easily taken, such as cash and groceries. A police official cautioned, "To avoid revealing that your home is empty, you should change the delivery address or ask a neighbor to collect parcels so that boxes do not pile up in front of the door, and temporarily suspend any newspaper or mail subscriptions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.