Children Inserting Paper into the Bill Slot of Unmanned Kiosks

Cutting receipts to the size of banknotes
Business owner says "Worried about machine breaking more than theft"

With the surge in real estate rental fees and rising labor costs, unmanned stores are increasing, but incidents such as theft continue to occur at these unmanned stores. Recently, an elementary school student was caught on camera inserting paper instead of cash into the kiosk bill slot at an unmanned ice cream store.

On the 4th, a post titled "A child putting paper into the bill slot of an unmanned store" was uploaded on the self-employed community 'Apeunikka Sajangida' (Because It Hurts, I'm a Boss). The post author, A, who owns the unmanned store, revealed CCTV footage inside the store, saying, "The child already stole an ice cream 20 minutes ago and then came back to put paper into the bill slot."

The video shows a child who appears to be an elementary school student taking paper out of a trash bag and inserting it into the kiosk bill slot. When the paper did not fit, the child picked up a receipt nearby, cut it to fit the width of the slot, and tried to insert it again.

A said, "I only saw this while reviewing the weekend CCTV footage. The child came back four more times after that," and added, "I'm thinking of putting up a photo." A continued, "Watching the video, I was trembling, worried the kiosk might break down. It was more nerve-wracking than stealing one ice cream," and lamented, "Since opening the unmanned store, I've been getting gray hairs."

52% of Unmanned Store Theft Offenders Are Teenagers

Since COVID-19, the number of unmanned stores selling ice cream, beverages, and more has surged, and crimes related to theft, property damage, and homelessness by teenage youths have been occurring continuously, raising the need for related preventive education.

On the 7th, the Incheon Western Police Station booked two middle school students without detention on charges of special theft. They damaged kiosk hinges using tools and stole a total of 700,000 KRW in cash from five unmanned stores in Seo-gu and Michuhol-gu, Incheon, on the 30th of last month and early this month.

Also, on the 4th, the Ansan Sangnok Police Station booked two middle school students on charges of special theft. They broke into an unmanned store in Sangnok-gu on the 27th of last month, damaged the kiosk, and stole cash worth about 1,000,000 KRW before fleeing.

Although the police secured the suspects and confirmed the crimes the day after the report, the suspects committed the same crimes targeting five unmanned stores again on the 29th, the very next day.

Rapid Increase in Theft Cases at Unmanned Stores

Around September 2021, a theft incident occurred overnight at nine unmanned ice cream stores in Busan. [Photo by Yonhap News]

Crimes exploiting the vulnerabilities of unmanned stores without staff are showing a clear upward trend. According to police statistics, the number of theft cases at unmanned stores reached a total of 2,830 in the first half of last year (January to June), an increase of about 34% compared to the previous year (monthly average of 351 cases).

According to a security company S-1’s analysis of unmanned store crime trends over five years around September last year, 52% of theft offenders were teenagers. This was followed by people in their 20s at 36%, 30s at 7%, and 40s at 5%.

Depending on the characteristics of unmanned stores, theft incidents were concentrated on weekends (34%) by day of the week and during late-night hours from midnight to 6 a.m. (61%) by time of day. The types of crimes were 91% cases targeting cash and goods.