Probably Stolen crime guide: contraband, heat and hidden storage

What should you do after buying stolen goods?

Clear contraband out of the display case, then check the markings on risky stock. Contraband tier determines the penalty; stolen-item heat affects the chance of recognition. Check both.

1. Remove contraband from the display case to avoid arrest for displaying it.
2. Read each risky item’s contraband tier and heat before deciding to hold or sell it.
3. Leave enough hidden storage for the goods you plan to keep, and read inspection messages.
4. If an investigation is underway, check your evidence-handling services too. Storing the goods does not deal with an existing investigation.

For ordinary trades, start with the inspection and budgeting routine in the beginner guide.

What are the four contraband penalties?

Some goods are confiscated when found; others can close your shop permanently. Check the tier before deciding whether a discount is worth taking.

Contraband tier	Consequence when found during inspection
Low	Usually ignored unless Security is targeting you
Mid	The item is confiscated
High	The item is confiscated and you receive a fine
Critical	The shop closes permanently and you are arrested immediately

Discovery also lowers your Security reputation, which affects the severity of punishment. Use the item and base-price reference to identify stock.

How should you read stolen-item heat?

Higher heat makes Security more likely to recognize stolen goods during an inspection. Sellers discount items according to their heat, which slowly decreases over time. Holding that discounted stock ties up money and hidden storage.

Each night removes 18 percentage points of heat from stolen goods without contraband properties. Low, Mid, High and Critical contraband lose 16, 14, 12 and 10 points respectively. An ordinary stolen item at 50% goes to 32%, 14%, then 0% over three nights; reaching zero removes its stolen tag. Any separate contraband properties remain.

Selling stolen goods and recording crimes

Ordinary customers can buy stolen goods, including items at 50% heat. Ordinary Upper Levels, Lower Levels, Tourist, Black Market and Revolution buyers still use their own category, budget and appraisal requirements. Heat alone does not make them expose the item, report you after buying it or return it. Trade reputation is awarded normally. Black Market and Revolution buyers reduce the crime amount as shown below.

If the item is also fake, mislabeled or contraband, those properties still matter. See buyer inspections for water labels, fake cigarettes, Immunex and chemical checks.

How does Security recognize stolen goods?

Check the actual visitor: a Security identity does not give every client the same behavior. Lun and Serpico dates below belong to their non-Endless storylines.

Visitor	Reaction to stolen goods and sale result
Patrol officer, day-9 off-duty officer, Security requisition officer	Can recognize stolen goods; a sale completed without recognition records the normal fencing amount
Security surplus merchant	Only sells goods, but can still recognize stolen goods you put out
Officer Lun buying food on day 11	Can recognize stolen goods; completed sales contribute no sales-crime evidence
Officer Lun requesting medicine on days 12 and 16	No general stolen-item recognition check; accepts his requested categories and contributes no sales-crime evidence
Cadet Serpico buying supplies on days 40, 42 and 43	No general stolen-item recognition check; completed sales still record fencing normally
Enforcement officer sent for an investigation	Does not buy or use general stolen-item recognition; applies penalties for the existing case
Leroy posing as an inspector	Retains recognition checks; confiscates stolen goods found, but causes no Security reputation loss

See Officer Lun’s story for his categories, budgets and later consequences. Officers revoking your gun permit or announcing an aug all-clear can also recognize stolen goods. Li Bei Wen’s chemical-supply revisit separately contributes no sales-crime evidence; this is not a rule for all wanted criminals.

For visitors who have recognition checks, placing goods you already own on the customer’s side of the counter, in your trading area or in the showcase triggers a check, even if the visitor does not want to buy them. For goods that are only stolen, 50% heat means a 50% recognition chance in one check; moving them into an area again can trigger another check. Contraband triggers its own check directly. On arrival, officers also scan loose items on the counter and in the showcase, regardless of ownership.

Recognition while the visitor is present produces “That is stolen!”, followed by “Step aside, I will be conducting an full inspection.”. Once that dialogue starts, the item rises to 100% heat, the visitor temporarily cannot be dismissed, and a shop inspection follows. Leaving stolen goods in the showcase when opening can also schedule an inspector based on heat. Security VIP stops routine inspections; these recognition routes remain active.

The search checks other accessible stock, concealment and luck. A recognized item still accessible at 100% heat cannot escape through the later heat roll. One final global luck roll can still spare the entire batch; its heat stays at 100%. Clear the counter and showcase and arrange hidden storage before receiving visitors, using the storage section below.

What happens if the search finds only stolen goods?

Genuine Security confiscates stolen goods without separate contraband properties and deducts reputation. This inspection does not directly charge credits or add a fencing crime amount. The base loss uses each item’s base value:

Base value of a stolen item, in credits	Base Security reputation loss per item
17 or less, if it still has a stolen tag	1
Above 17, below 50	2
50 to below 85	3
85 to below 140	4
140 or more	5

The combined base loss is capped at 25 before difficulty: Cozy ×0.5, Normal ×1, Hard ×1.25, Challenge ×2. Petition to Security, active at Upper Levels reputation −60, also doubles Security losses. For example, on Normal without that perk, finding only one stolen item with a base price of 100 credits confiscates it and costs 4 Security reputation.

Higher contraband found in the same search brings its corresponding penalties. Security reputation reaching −100 triggers a separate ending at the next opening. A search finding only stolen goods has no direct arrest step, so keep track of accumulated reputation as well. See Security visits and VIP for visit types and the fake inspector.

How is crime recorded when the sale completes?

At the sale, the game calculates the item’s negotiated trade value × its heat percentage, then applies the buyer’s modifier and starting traits to record a crime amount. If you accept the buyer’s remaining cash because their budget is too low, the crime calculation still uses the trade value before that cash cap.

For the same item valued at 100 credits with 50% heat, without Intimidating or Blabbermouth:

Buyer	Crime amount added
Upper Levels, Tourist, or Lower Levels without Tight Lips	50
Black Market	25: half
Revolution	16: divide by three and discard the remainder
Lower Levels with Tight Lips, unlocked at reputation 80	25: half

The starting traits Intimidating and Blabbermouth then decrease or increase the recorded amount by about 33%, with rounding. The faction modifier follows this buyer, regardless of who originally sold you the goods.

After trading, close and reopen your Security Record and check “Possession (Stolen Goods)”. This is accumulated crime value, not an immediate fine. Ordinary purchases or simply holding stock do not automatically add its inventory value to this entry. Accumulated crime affects investigations and inspections; the dossier guide explains enforcement fines, arrest and execution.

To reduce the next sale’s record, hide the stock and let its heat fall or reach zero first. Selling the goods or cooling them does not erase crimes already recorded. Marketplace requests have their own delivery pricing and steps.

The “Clean Hands” achievement requires winning without selling stolen goods or contraband. In ordinary sales, selling an item that still has its stolen tag sets a flag for the run. A buyer contributing no crime evidence, reducing the crime amount to zero or clearing the case later does not undo it. Letting heat reach zero and remove the stolen tag before selling avoids triggering that flag through stolen status; remaining contraband still triggers it.

Which hidden storage should you buy?

Smuggler’s Bays are disguised storage designed to hide their contents from inspections. Choose one according to the room in your shop and the stock you intend to hold.

Smuggler's Bay: basic hidden storage

A small disguised storage bay. Check its free space before buying goods you need to hide, and include that space in your purchase decision.

Modified Smuggler's Bay: more storage

The modified version holds more items. If your current bay is regularly full, compare this version’s capacity and purchase cost.

Mini Smuggler's Bay: a smaller unit

A smaller disguised storage unit. If shop space is tight, inspect its inventory grid to check whether the goods you want to hide will fit.

During inspections, a Smuggler’s Bay protects its contents even when the bay is in the trash can. A Mini Smuggler’s Bay also keeps protecting its contents after being stored behind the poster. A Hypertech Storage Bay cannot be placed inside a smuggler bay. The Smuggler’s Bay (Modified) delivered by the Underground Exchange also survives overnight in the trash can instead of being discarded with ordinary rubbish.

The display case attracts buyers, while a hidden bay stores concealed goods. Check both before opening, especially after reorganizing your inventory.

What does an inspection warning tell you?

Unlock Inspection Early Warning and pay its nightly fee for notices from Wild’s Security informant. Nightly messages can say an inspection is due in two days, tomorrow or imminently. Use that notice to organize your stock.

Surprise inspections are not announced, so maintain hidden storage between warnings. Officers also search differently: some accept bribes, while others do not inspect every container.

Do you need fixers or evidence removal?

Choose by the crime amounts and investigation progress shown in your record; the services change different things:

Service	Effect	How to use it
Wild’s fixers	Reduce each crime amount on paid nights; do not directly reset investigation progress	Unlock and hire them for a nightly fee
Evidence Removal	Resets investigation progress and action state; keeps the crime amounts	A favor through Wild’s Security contacts, with a cooldown

After Evidence Removal, high remaining crime amounts can start another investigation. See case cleanup in the dossier guide for fixer reductions, fees and the removal cooldown.

How do you find stock for the Fence route?

Put a Black Lamp in the display case to tell thieves you buy stolen goods. Double-click it to select its calling target and choose thieves for this business. Black Market reputation affects their response.

Black Lamp: attract thief suppliers

Check incoming goods for heat and contraband level, reserve hidden-storage space, then negotiate. Fence is selectable in 1.0 and starts with related stock and contacts. Other careers receiving risky goods still need the same inspection and storage routine.

How do you use the Janitor Underground Exchange?

Once you have exchange access, check what the Janitor currently requests and what you receive in return.

1. Read the current list and prepare the specified items.
2. Put them in the trash bin.
3. Activate the cleaning service, then close for the night.
4. Collect the exchanged goods next morning.

The list changes every few days, so check it again before arranging a trade. The dialogue describes this exchange channel as avoiding Security tracking. Once the goods are in your shop, use this guide’s display, storage and sale routine.

The career Wiki connects each career and entrance. Compare other daily work in the money-making overview.

See Fence for the career’s starting resources and related contacts.

• Security guide: reputation, VIP and inspections: Prepare for visits, check VIP and display stock, and identify the fake inspector.

Security dossier: crimes, investigation and sentences

Security dossier: crimes, investigation and sentences

Poster cache: hide contraband and understand inspections

Poster cache: hide contraband and understand inspections