The Student Room Group

I think my housemate is stealing from me!

I've been living with 3 girl since september, one of them I know very well from home and the others she has met through uni. I can be a bit of an airhead and have lost plenty of things in the past but what's happening at the moment seems like too much a coincidence not to be theft. I noticed last week that £8 in change and a topshop gift card had gone from my purse less than 48 hours after I put them in there (it was a new purse so I had organised it and knew exactly where all money and cards were). The only places I had been in that 48 hours was uni where the bag was closed and next to my feet in the lecture theatre and at home in my bedroom and for a few hours in the living room. I know 100% I never removed the cards or money so they must have been taken out whilst in the house.
The next day a new item of makeup disappeared from my room.
2 of the girls have also had things go missing, £30 cash out of a purse and a gift card, again out of a purse.
The other girl has had nothing go missing and while in her bedroom a few days ago (with her, not by myself) I noticed 2 peices of my makeup which I had lost months ago!
The 2 girls lived with her last year and told me about a number of items going missing but they put it down to people that had viewed the house with our landlord (I always thought this was unlikely but also never really considered someone in the house was a theif)
We all think it's the one girl that is taking our things and the more I think about it the more items I can think of that have disappeared without a trace.

While I am upset about whats been taken, I'm more worried about the fact I live with a theif... especially considering the same thing happened to me last year. Losing all faith in people! Last year I had proper evidence and managed to get everything back but this time round we don't have proper evidence.
How can we catch her out ??
If you can get into her room without her being there, steal your stuff back! If she stole it in the first place then she'll be embarrassed to mention it because firstly it would mean confessing to stealing and secondly to give her a taste of her own medicine she can't complain if she stole it in the first place.

also lock your door?
Reply 2
Lock your door. It's not a pleasant atmosphere but at least your stuff there will stay put.
Reply 3
Lock your door is first on the list, and recommend that housemates do the same. You have a known stealing problem, so your housemates will understand.

If you don't have a door lock, tell everyone in your house that you suspect the landlord's letting themself in and stealing from you all :wink: so you've set up hidden webcams in your room to get proof. That should deter the thief if it's one of the people you tell.

If the stealing continues, you can get relatively cheap webcams. Set one up without telling anyone and see if you can catch the culprit.

Don't leap to conclusions about which one of your housemates is stealing. It wouldn't be difficult for the culprit to pretend to have something stolen, and leave one person under suspicion by not stealing from them.
Dont leave anything where she can take it, or if she does it one more time you should definately confront her. If you find things on her, retaliate and take it back, if she's not very aggressive i suggest you really have a go at her if you have proper evidence, she wont be able to deny it. Threaten to tell someone and make sure she knows that you're not someone to be taken for a mug. You really need to stand up for yourself.

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Moved from Uni Life to Student Accommodation.

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