Probably Stolen Thief is the kind of customer who makes me question whether running an honest shop is really worth it. Need a Disposable Keycard to open that Security Evidence Locker? A Thief might have one at a tempting discount. Of course, stolen goods carry Heat, and Security won’t appreciate your shopping habits. Luckily, you can attract these shady suppliers with a Black Lamp or unlock Safe Hands for regular visits. Here’s how to get them to show up, what they sell, and whether buying their goods is worth the risk.
Table of Contents
When Does the Thief Appear in Probably Stolen?
In a normal playthrough with the introduction enabled, your first encounter happens during the Evidence Locker Break-In event on Day 7. A regular Thief visit is also scheduled for Day 13.
After that, Thieves can appear through the normal customer system or be attracted by certain display-case items. They have a two-day return cooldown, but that doesn’t guarantee a visit every other day.
If you don’t want to depend on random visits, a Black Lamp is the easiest place to start.
How to Attract the Thief in Probably Stolen
The most direct way to attract regular Thieves is to use a Black Lamp. Your Black Market reputation also affects their appearance chance, while the Safe Hands perk provides scheduled weekly visits.
How to Get and Use the Black Lamp
The Black Lamp signals your willingness to buy stolen goods. You can purchase one from Dr. Jackson. Its base value is 120 Credits, although the actual price depends on the deal you’re getting.
Place the lamp directly inside your display case, then double-click it to choose which type of Thief you want to attract.
| Black Lamp setting | Base chance per lamp |
|---|---|
| Food Thief | 30% |
| Petty Thief | 20% |
| Thief | 10% |
Choose Thief if you’re after supply crates or rare equipment. Each lamp targeting regular Thieves adds a base 10% attraction chance, with half your Black Market reputation added to the calculation.
Thief attraction chance = (Number of lamps × 10%) + Half your Black Market reputation
For example, one lamp gives you a 10% chance at neutral reputation. Raise your Black Market reputation to +40, and that becomes 30%. Add a second lamp targeting regular Thieves, and you’ll reach 40%.
The final chance is limited to 0–95%. However, a successful attraction roll doesn’t guarantee a visit. Black Lamps use regular customer slots, and other customer-generation restrictions can prevent a Thief from reaching your counter.
Another detail worth remembering is that visitors are generated when you open the shop. Changing your Black Lamp afterward won’t affect that day’s queue. I’d set everything up before opening rather than rearranging lamps halfway through the day.
How to Unlock Safe Hands for Weekly Thief Visits
Safe Hands unlocks at +40 Black Market reputation and schedules a regular Thief visit every Monday, on Days 1, 8, 15, 22, and so on. Unlocking it after a Monday has passed doesn’t create a missed visit retroactively, and scheduled visits still follow customer-queue restrictions.
The perk also adds a separate 20% daily chance of generating a Petty Thief.
What makes Safe Hands particularly valuable is its effect on supply crates. Normally, a regular Thief starts with a 30% base crate-offer chance. With Safe Hands, an eligible Thief makes a crate-offer attempt whenever their stock is generated.
That means more opportunities to find sealed department crates, although you’re not guaranteed a particular one. Higher Black Market reputation also improves certain merchandise rolls.
Can Neon Signs Attract Thieves?
Yes. Food, Material, Medical, and Household Item Neon Signs can bring a regular Thief or a Scavenger, depending on your faction reputations.
They’re useful for obtaining specific categories of merchandise, but I’d stick with a Black Lamp targeting regular Thieves if rare equipment is the goal.
Probably Stolen Thief Inventory: What Does the Thief Sell?
The regular Thief can sell equipment that’s difficult to obtain through ordinary suppliers. Disposable Keycards are especially useful when you have a sealed crate waiting to be opened.
Their inventory changes between visits, with each possible item having its own generation chance.
| Item | Base offer chance |
|---|---|
| Disposable Keycard (Service) | 20% |
| Disposable Keycard (Medical) | 15% |
| Disposable Keycard (Engineering) | 15% |
| Disposable Keycard (Security) | 10% |
| Disposable Keycard (Command) | 5% |
| Immunivax Injector | 20% |
| Stack of Scratcher Tickets (5) | 15% |
| Performance Module | 12% |
| Efficiency Module | 12% |
| Quality Module | 12% |
| Overclock Module | 8% |
| Eco Module | 8% |
| Refinement Module | 8% |
| HydraTech Micro Water Purifier | 12% |
| Advanced Water Filter | 12% |
These are base item-generation chances, not guaranteed offers. Black Market reputation can improve certain rolls.
The Thief can also bring Cryptographic Desequencer Chips for different departments. Rarer merchandise includes ETERNAL Rejuvenation Serum and SYNC Neuroactive Perfume. Even an Advanced Turbo Booster can show up.
An Advanced Water Filter is particularly useful for a water purification business, but I wouldn’t spend all my Credits just because something looks rare. A discount means little if the item isn’t useful to your shop.
What Supply Crates Can the Thief Sell?
Supply crates are among the Thief’s most valuable offers, although their contents depend on the department.
| Supply crate | Approximate share of crate selection |
|---|---|
| Service Department Supply Crate | 25% |
| Security Department Evidence Locker | 21% |
| Medical Bay Supply Crate | 20% |
| Engineering Foundry Supply Crate | 20% |
| Security Department Supply Crate | 15% |
These are rounded selection weights after a crate offer is generated, not the chance of receiving each crate on every visit.
Engineering Foundry crates can contain machine modules, while Medical Bay crates focus on medical supplies. The Security Department Evidence Locker draws from confiscated goods that can include weapons.
The contents are randomized, so even getting the right crate doesn’t guarantee the item you’re looking for. And unlike a casino, the crate expects you to bring your own key.
How to Open Thief Supply Crates and Security Evidence Lockers
Every sealed department crate requires a matching Disposable Keycard. A Disposable Keycard (Command) can open any of the five department crate types.
| Crate | Required keycard |
|---|---|
| Security Department Evidence Locker | Security |
| Security Department Supply Crate | Security |
| Medical Bay Supply Crate | Medical |
| Engineering Foundry Supply Crate | Engineering |
| Service Department Supply Crate | Service |
Drag the matching keycard onto the crate to unlock it. A successful unlock consumes the card, while an incorrect card remains in your inventory.
The opened crate becomes a regular storage container with a 7×5 internal grid and a base value of 15 Credits. It loses its sealed status along with its stolen and contraband flags.
That doesn’t make everything inside legal. Individual items retain their original properties.
Luck also affects crate contents, so use any intended Luck boost before unlocking and revealing them. Once the contents are revealed, reloading your save won’t reroll the crate.
How Do Thief Discounts and Stolen Goods Heat Work?
Thieves offer lower prices because their merchandise can carry Heat, which represents how recognizable it is as stolen property. Higher Heat means a better buying discount, but it also increases the risk of Security identifying the goods.
The discount appears in the transaction window as Five Finger Discount.
| Stolen item Heat | Five Finger Discount |
|---|---|
| 1–25 | 10% |
| 26–50 | 15% |
| 51–75 | 20% |
| Above 75 | 25% |
Five Finger Discount IV gives you the highest discount tier. Sounds great, right? Well, that extra discount also comes with extra attention from Security.
Regular stolen items lose 18 Heat overnight, while items with special decay rules can cool more slowly. Once Heat reaches zero, an item can lose its stolen status.
Stolen status and contraband are separate mechanics, though. A cooled item can still be illegal because of its contraband classification.
A Smuggler’s Bay can help conceal valuable stolen goods during inspections, but it won’t erase the consequences of previous transactions.
If I can’t use an item soon, I’d rather keep my Credits than wait around for its Heat to cool. Rent doesn’t care how impressive my inventory looks.
Should You Buy From the Thief or Report Them?
Buying from a Thief can give you access to useful equipment without damaging your Black Market reputation. Reporting them can earn Credits, but you’ll sacrifice faction standing.
Here’s how I’d make the decision.
| Situation | Best choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The Thief has a keycard or module you need | Buy | You get useful equipment without sacrificing Black Market reputation. |
| You’re working toward Safe Hands | Buy or decline | Reporting damages Black Market standing. |
| The Thief offers valuable Mid, High, or Critical contraband | Consider reporting | The Security payout may justify the faction penalty. |
| The Thief only has ordinary stolen goods | Usually buy or decline | Reporting pays Credits but gives no base Security reputation. |
| The merchandise is too expensive or risky to hold | Decline | You avoid tying up Credits in unwanted stock. |
| You’re considering Blackmail | Decide on reporting first | A Blackmail attempt blocks reporting during that visit. |
How Much Do You Get for Reporting a Thief?
You can report customers offering stolen goods or qualifying contraband using Call Security. However, a regular Thief isn’t automatically a Wanted List criminal, so reporting their goods doesn’t pay a Wanted bounty.
A valid report pays 50 Credits, plus approximately 4% of each qualifying stolen item’s negotiated value. Mid, High, or Critical contraband adds further rewards.
| Highest contraband tier | Extra Credits per item | Base Security reputation |
|---|---|---|
| Stolen goods only | No tier bonus | 0 |
| Mid | +25 | +2 |
| High | +40 | +3 |
| Critical | +60 | +4 |
The Credit bonuses apply per qualifying item, while the highest qualifying contraband tier determines the base Security reputation gain. Applicable modifiers can change the final result. Low-level contraband alone doesn’t qualify for this type of report.
Reporting a regular Thief damages your Black Market reputation, making it less attractive if you rely on the faction for supplies. Decide while the customer is still offering the goods, since purchased items no longer count as evidence being offered by that seller.
A wrongful report costs 8 Security reputation and can trigger a 50-Credit fine if you have at least 100 Credits.
Personally, I wouldn’t rush to call Security every time a Thief shows up. A valuable report can be worthwhile, but I’d check the merchandise first. Sometimes keeping access to future suppliers is worth more than the immediate payout.
Can You Blackmail the Thief in Probably Stolen?
Don’t assume Blackmail will work just because the customer is called Thief. The Blackmail (Criminal) option targets eligible criminal customers and automatically fails against non-criminals.
Once bargaining is unlocked, select Blackmail (Criminal) from the Bargain panel. A successful attempt improves transaction prices by 20%, but failure can cost faction reputation.
In one Day 13 encounter on Mark Up difficulty, a Thief offered a Stack of Scratcher Tickets (5) for 80 Credits and an Advanced Water Filter for 193 Credits. Both offers had Five Finger Discount modifiers.
The Blackmail attempt failed. The Thief refused the discount and threatened to tell others what kind of establishment the shop was running.
That doesn’t prove every Thief is immune to Blackmail, but it shows why the option shouldn’t be treated as a guaranteed discount. The Wanted List helps identify confirmed criminals, while ordinary bargaining avoids the risk of making an accusation.
One restriction is especially important: attempting Blackmail or an Aug threat prevents you from reporting that customer during the same visit. Decide whether to involve Security before trying either option.
Thief vs. Petty Thief: Which Supplier Do You Need?
Not everyone with Thief in their name brings the same merchandise, so make sure you’re attracting the right customer.
| Customer | What they do |
|---|---|
| Thief | Sells stolen equipment, keycards, modules, and possible supply crates. |
| Petty Thief | Brings basic food alongside household and medical goods. |
| Food Thief | Specializes in food and drinks. |
| Shopping Thief | Buys access cards, medical items, and melee weapons rather than acting as a regular stolen-goods supplier. |
If you’re looking for a Security Department Evidence Locker or Command Keycard, target the regular Thief with your Black Lamp.
And don’t confuse these suppliers with burglars who steal inventory overnight. That’s a separate mechanic. If break-ins are your problem, Joe Wild’s services are worth looking into, especially when you’re trying to save enough to buy the store.
