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234 points paulpauper | 1 comments | | HN request time: 1.058s | source
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deadbabe ◴[] No.44380208[source]
There are many reasons why crime is in decline, but ultimately its economic.

Crime used to pay. Your expected return on a crime was pretty good for the risk involved. Nowadays though, because of technology, risk has increased while the returns have also decreased. Barriers to entry for crimes worth committing are now way higher. Robbing a gas station decades ago could yield a nice chunk of cash that could probably pay bills for a month. But now with less people using cash and cost of living increasing, there’s no point. Most registers have pitiful amount of cash. And mugging strangers on the street is likely even worse. No one carries wads of cash anymore.

The hot industry to be in is ransomware. The sums are vast and the risk is low if you do it right. But it’s very white collar, it requires skills that your typical low level criminal won’t have.

Overall, it means there’s a lot of crimes that are done not for any financial reason, just for personal satisfaction.

replies(2): >>44380368 #>>44384710 #
1. BLKNSLVR ◴[] No.44384710[source]
By necessity criminals are having to move up the corporate ladder to have access to that which is worth appropriating.