Being wrongly accused of shoplifting can be distressing and embarrassing. You will likely have shop staff, security guards and perhaps the police, treating you like a criminal, despite the fact you have done nothing wrong. All this may play out in front of your family or friends as well as other shoppers, some of who you may know.
What are some of the reasons these false accusations might occur?
Poor observation
Shop staff might call security when they believe someone has stolen something. But, most people are not naturally skilled at observing or describing what they see. Someone busy working a till might just get a glimpse and give security a poor description that leads to them stopping you rather than the correct person.
Grainy images
Video cameras are often used to identify shoplifters, but the footage is often grainy and unclear, which can again lead to the wrong person being accused.
Someone else put things in your bag or buggy
Young children can often pick up items that they like the look of and drop them into a parent’s bag or into their buggy causing security to stop their parent if the alarm goes off. In some cases, the parent may not even make it that far, as a store member may call security when they see the items because they think the parent intends to steal them.
While shoplifting has become a huge problem for stores in recent years, and they do need to take steps to tackle it, this does not justify false accusations or poor treatment of innocent people. Learning more about your rights and defense options could be crucial if it happens to you.