Theft  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Still from The Great Train Robbery (1903)

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pickpocket, petty crime, Robin Hood, gentleman thief, brigandage, pirate

In the criminal law, theft (also known as stealing) is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's freely-given consent. As a term, it is used as shorthand for all major crimes against property, encompassing offences such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, trespassing, shoplifting, intrusion, fraud (theft by deception) and sometimes criminal conversion. In some jurisdictions, theft is considered to be synonymous with larceny; in others, theft has replaced larceny.

Someone who carries out an act of or makes a career of theft is known as a "thief".

See also

• Anti-theft system
• Asset management (corporate theft prevention)
• Confidence trick
• Counterfeit
• Credit card fraud
• Dishonesty
• Fence (criminal)
• Force-initiation
• Fraud
• Larceny
• Money laundering
• Organized crime
• Pickpocketing
• Secret profit
• Skimming (casinos)
• White-collar crime

Specific forms of theft and other related offences

• Art theft
• Bank robbery
• Bandwidth theft
• Carjacking
• Computer crime
• Copyright infringement
• Data theft
• Economic Espionage Act of 1996
• Embezzlement
• Espionage
• Extortion
• Identity theft
• Kidnapping
• Laptop theft
• Metal theft
• Motor vehicle theft
• Organized retail crime
• Package pilferage
• Plagiarism
• Piracy
• Receipt of stolen property
• Street sign theft
• Tax evasion
• Theft of services