Luxury Theft: The Rise
in High-Value Target Crimes

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Targeted theft is no longer limited to isolated incidents in high-crime zones. Instead, individuals are being approached in broad daylight, often in areas assumed to be low-risk. Criminal groups are deploying advanced methods to overwhelm victims quickly and avoid detection, making these interactions difficult to predict and harder to prevent.

Data shows an unmistakable pattern: thefts involving luxury items are climbing in frequency. In the UK, high-end jewellery claims have surged, while incidents involving stolen timepieces are increasingly concentrated in affluent urban districts.

Luxury goods continue to hold high resale value in informal and unregulated markets. Unlike electronics, which are easier to trace, items such as watches and jewellery often lack identifiers—and even when records exist, few victims use available tracking or registration tools. These gaps in recovery make them a favoured target for both opportunists and organised networks.

Across Europe, established criminal organisations are assembling specialist teams and leveraging social media to identify, monitor, and pursue individuals displaying signs of wealth. Cross-border resale is facilitated by well-connected networks, enabling stolen items to move quickly through resale hubs from Monaco to Dubai. These dynamics, combined with sustained demand and post-pandemic shifts in global travel, are expected to further elevate risk in 2026.