5 Types of Looters and How to Outsmart Them

Source: https://www.askaprepper.com/

What worries you most about the idea of society collapsing?

A post-SHTF world will hold many dangers, but for many preppers their biggest concern is looters. After all what’s the point of spending time and money gathering the supplies you need to survive a crisis, and then just when you do need them someone else comes along and takes them from you?

There’s no denying that looting is a serious risk, either. There’s no question that it will happen. We’ve all seen looters on the news after riots, protests, court cases that didn’t go the way a mob wanted.

If these people will take the opportunity to loot, steal and pillage when society’s still just about holding together, how do you think they’re going to behave when it collapses? When they know the police aren’t going to turn up and arrest them? Looting will happen, and preppers need to be prepared for it.

It’s a bit more complicated that just “be ready for looters,” though. Not all looters are created equal. Some of them are much more of a threat than others. Some might not really be a threat at all. If you encounter looters – and the chances are you will – the best way to respond is going to depend on exactly what you’re dealing with.

A lot of preppers assume that dealing with looters means grabbing your gun and fighting them off. That’s certainly an option, but it’s always a risky one.

Related: Best States for Self-Defense. Do You Live in One of Them?

Soldiers call combat “the two-way range” for a reason; it isn’t like the movies, where the bad guys always miss. Once the shooting starts, everyone in the area is at risk of taking a bullet. It’s something you need to be prepared for, but it’s a last resort.

It’s much safer for you if you can outsmart looters instead. Here are some of the types of thieves you’re likely to encounter, and how to encourage them to leave you alone.

Hungry Survivors

Most of the potential looters you’ll encounter in a crisis won’t be criminals at all. They’ll just be people who weren’t prepared for whatever disaster struck.

They’re not really guilty of anything, except maybe trusting the government too much, but now they have no preparations to fall back on and they’re struggling to survive.

Very few of us won’t steal food when they get really hungry – and there are likely to be a lot of very hungry people around. If you don’t stop them stealing your food you’ll end up just as hungry as they are.

Avoid confrontation with these people by pretending to be just as hungry as they are. If you see a group of refugees approaching, rush out and ask them if they can spare something to eat. When they say no, tell them your family are all sick and will die if you can’t get them food. That gives them a reason to avoid your home.

They won’t want to catch whatever your family are suffering from  – and they’ll probably want to get away from you in a hurry too, in case they catch it from you.

Fake Friends

When the world is falling apart around you, it will probably be reassuring when a pair of aid workers or cops turns up at your door offering to help.

Related: When To Let The Police Intervene And When To Take Justice Into Your Own Hands

You don’t really need help, because you were prepared for things to go badly wrong, but still, it’s good to know that the collapse isn’t complete and there’s some hope of order being restored – and, after all, some extra help isn’t going to hurt, is it?

Well, it might. After all, how do you know that cop or charity official is genuine? They might have stolen a uniform and faked up an ID card. They might even be who they claim to be, but they’ve gone rogue and now they’re looking for supplies or valuables to steal.

There’s no way to really be sure, and the possibility of freelancing cops or aid workers means making sure their ID is real doesn’t help either.

Again, your best bet is to convince them you’re a lot more desperate than you are. Act relieved to see them. Ask for help, and if they say it’ll be there soon beg for it to be sooner. You’re down to your last half pack of stale crackers, you have no idea where to get more food and everyone else is so sick, please help…

The chances are they’ll wander off in search of richer pickings. And, if not, they’re still on the doorstep where you can shut them out. Whatever you do, don’t let them in.

Opportunistic Looters

Just because a disaster has hit the world, we don’t stop being human. Some people will still want to sit on the porch with a beer at the end of the day. Some people will still enjoy relaxing with a book when we have some spare time.

And some people, unfortunately, will still steal anything that isn’t nailed down.

OPSEC is your friend again. As a prepper you have plenty that’s worth stealing – but hide that from the world.

Do everything you can to keep your preps inconspicuous. That maximizes your chances of hanging on to them, because opportunistic thieves only steal what catches their eye, and hidden treasures don’t do that.

But don’t hide your stockpile in your basement. It might sound like a good idea, but here’s why you should actually never do that.

You can also deter opportunists by making your home a hard target. Good fences can look like more trouble than climbing them is worth. If an opportunist does get onto your property, then sets off an alarm or noisemaker trap, they’re probably going to give up and look for somewhere easier.

Organized Gangs

Gangs, sadly, are a thing. Even in normal times they exist, and the US has more than its fair share of them.

Gang members don’t tend to have the sort of forward-looking looking attitude and common sense that leads people to prepping, but the chances are the gangs will hang together after the SHTF.

They have strength in numbers, weapons, and a willingness to use violence and steal. Gangs are bold enough to take on anyone they think they can overpower, and often they’ll use violence just for the sake of it.

If you’re confronted with a gang there’s a good chance convincing them you have no supplies won’t make any difference and they’ll attack anyway.

At the same time you’d need to put on a very powerful show of strength to deter them – and then you risk them seeing it as a challenge to their status, and trying to prove how powerful they are.

If you’re up against a gang there’s a good chance you will have to fight. The good news is, they’re the only type of looter where that’s the case. The best idea is to set up these automatic traps and alarms, to prevent them from even crossing your property line.

Prepper Infiltrators

Prepping doesn’t have to be something you do alone. It isn’t just a lot more pleasant to be part of a community of like-minded people; it can be a big help, too.

Whether it’s getting together with some clued-up neighbors to be as prepared as possible without duplicating each other’s efforts, or sharing tips in an online community like this site, prepping networks have a lot to offer.

The problem is, they also come with risks – especially online. There are people out there who see the advantages of stockpiling food and tools in advance of a crisis is a great idea, but think it’s cheaper and easier to let you do the hard work, then steal it from you when they need it.

If you’re part of any prepping network make sure you know, and can trust, everyone else in it. Not everyone is who they seem.

If you want to outsmart this kind of potential looter, the time to start is now. Online, don’t reveal where you live. Make sure your OPSEC is good, so people can’t piece together little bits of information and work out where you live from that.

Telling people about your 23-minute drive to Anytown, or complaining about your neighbor’s zebra farm, are bad ideas; they narrow down your location.

In-person infiltrators are probably easier to spot but harder to outsmart. Until you know someone very well, and trust them, don’t show them your preps and don’t tell them what you have in any kind of detail. Play down your prepping; don’t make yourself stand out as worth looting.