How does the shoplifting crime work in Torn, and how is it done?

Shoplifting is a Crimes 2.0 Theft crime with eight shops, and every attempt costs four Nerve^[1]. Skill starts at 1^[2]. Spread attempts across shops to keep notoriety low, avoid weak shops until skill is higher, and avoid critical fails^[3][4]. Per-shop success rates are not in the sources.

How it works

• Shoplifting is the fourth Crimes 2.0 crime, a Theft crime with eight shops: Sally's Sweet Shop, Bits 'n' Bobs, TC Clothing, Super Store, Pharmacy, Cyber Force, Jewelry Store, Big Al's Gun Shop.^[1]
• It was released on 08 August 2023 with six shops; Cyber Force was added 18 December 2023 and Pharmacy 16 January 2024.^[5]
• Shoplifting has 58 unique outcomes in total.^[6]
• Odds depend on crime experience (CE), Shoplifting skill and shop-internal factors such as notoriety.^[4]
• Crime skill starts at 1, is tracked per crime, and only CE carries across crimes.^[2]
• Skill is nonlinear: CS50 is about 25% of the way to max, CS80 about 50%, CS91 about 75%.^[2]

Notoriety and security

• Each attempt raises notoriety in that shop, making later attempts harder and jail sentences longer. Higher skill reduces the gain, but a critical fail always maximizes it.^[1]
• Notoriety falls 1% every five minutes. Developers say shoplifting all day every day likely won't be possible, so take breaks and diversify targets.^[1][3]
• Each shop has one or two security statuses that sometimes become disabled. Cameras are disabled at random for 30 to 60 minutes, and checkpoints break for eight to 12 hours.^[1]
• Guards take 10-15 minute breaks: at the Jewelry Store and Cyber Force every three and a half to four and a half hours since their last break, and at Big Al's every seven and a half to eight and a half hours.^[1]
• Developers say disabled security can lower notoriety gains and unlock other outcomes, but shoplifting with nothing disabled is viable and expected.^[3]
• Shoplifting uniques require certain security statuses.^[7]

Doing it well

• Every attempt costs four Nerve.^[1]
• Some shops fail more often, and the rate falls as skill rises. Developers say it may be inefficient to use those shops until skill is higher.^[3]
• Per-shop success rates and subcrime details are not in the available sources.
• Keep a Mountain Bike in inventory: it improves Shoplifting CE and skill gains by 5%.^[8][9]
• The enhancer is the Mountain Bike, and a Torn City Times in inventory unlocks extra outcomes. Both can be lost on a critical fail.^[1]

Failure and uniques

• A critical fail cuts CE and skill by ten times the expected gain and sets the chain to zero.^[4]
• It can also cause injury, hospital, jail or item loss, and demoralization that reduces gains for a few attempts.^[4]
• Uniques can be obtained once per player. Across crimes, a unique comes after about 30 attempts on average once its requirements are met; this is a general figure, not specific to Shoplifting.^[7]

Rewards and value

• Some outcomes give ammunition, normal or special, slightly weighted toward equipped weapons.^[10]
• Bits 'N' Bobs can give a Cut-Throat Razor as a unique.^[11]
• One player's 2023 post says Cyber Force yields card skimming items. That post calls Shoplifting the 'final' crime, so it is dated.^[9]
• A 2026 progression guide ranks Shoplifting fourth among the remaining crimes by nerve needed to reach 100 skill, after hustling, search for cash and pickpocketing.^[12]
• A 2026 guide rates Shoplifting highly for theft-focused OC roles.^[13]

Skill past 100

In March 2024 the Criminal Primer said skill gained past 100 currently has no effect.^[2] In December 2024 the same author said CS past 100 has bearing on CPR.^[14] A 2026 guide agrees that it can contribute to OC CPR.^[13] The later sources are the more recent view.

The Crimes 2.0 wiki page says no special item is required^[6], while the Shoplifting page names the Mountain Bike as the enhancer^[1]. The bike is optional. The old pre-2.0 crime, with fixed items and hospital results, is a different system.^[15]

Where sources disagree

• The Crimes 2.0 wiki says no special item is required^[6]; the Shoplifting page names the Mountain Bike as the enhancer^[1]. It is optional.
• Skill past 100 has no effect per March 2024^[2]; it adds to CPR per December 2024 and 2026^[14][13].