Fine for carrying stolen goods/entrapment

Dakron Nova · Dec 10, 2014

Does anyone know what the fine and subsequent bounty is for carrying stolen goods?

Is it the same/more value as the stolen goods being carried.

If the bounty is as much as the value of the stolen goods, Im guessing it could be used as a method of entrapment. I.e. Drop cargo in resource site/nav site, hide, wait for another player to pick it up, scan them, etc...collect bounty.

Not very moral if possible though!

adoredtv · Dec 10, 2014

Just carrying stolen goods doesn't give you a bounty though does it? You have to be caught by the law first?

Pr0 · Dec 10, 2014

Sell em at a no rules station cause you get scanned on the way in to other stations.

Dakron Nova · Dec 10, 2014

Im not sure...I "thought" if you we scanned whilst carrying illegal cargo you were now immediately tagged as wanted even if it wasnt the Feds who scanned it.

If anyone knows for definite that would be great. Otherwise will try it out and see what happens...

Canaris · Dec 10, 2014

Sell your stolen goods to a BM agent at platforms(no scan) if you haven't got the hang of smuggling into stations.

The amount of the fine seems to be scaled to the worth of what you have in your cargo hold.

Never pick up anything stolen if there are security ships nearby, the second you pick it up the security ship will make a B line straight towards you for a scan cos they know by magic you're up to no good.

Aewarin Jameson · Dec 10, 2014

Pick up goods that do not belong to you and they are marked stolen.

If you are scanned by the authorities and you're carrying stolen goods then you're fined.

If you do not pay the fine off within 24 hours it becomes a bounty and you're "wanted".

adoredtv said:
Just carrying stolen goods doesn't give you a bounty though does it? You have to be caught by the law first?

Correct.

You do need to find a black market though to sell them through as regular traders won't touch them.

Cat_Astrophe · Dec 10, 2014

The fine seems to be roughly twice what you get for the goods... and you can lose serious rep INSTANTLY! Moral of the story: Don't get caught... I did. Need to turn in my official smuggler badge and sooper sekrit decoder ring now.

Demonic Squid · Dec 10, 2014

I might be wrong, but if you go to to a station that is a platform type without internal docking then you can usually offload your warez without fear of getting scanned at all - assuming Blackmarket is available. The only time I got caught was the first time I picked up a bunch of black boxes from a USS and went into a major hub - 18500CR fine for 10 Black Boxes IIRC, which sold for 2500CR each.

Brad Avidro · Dec 10, 2014

adoredtv said:
Just carrying stolen goods doesn't give you a bounty though does it? You have to be caught by the law first?

NO if you get scanned carrying stolen goods, you get a fine in that system for smuggling, which you simply pay off. The trick is to get it to a station that has a black market without being scanned and selling it.

Dakron Nova · Dec 10, 2014

So dont think I could have explained myself very clearly in the original post....apologies

Basically, could I drop a ton of gold, wait for someone to pick it up, scan them and collect a bounty?

Or does it have to be the Feds that scan them? And would they get a bounty to cover the cost of the gold?

Cat_Astrophe · Dec 10, 2014

FoxBat said:
I might be wrong, but if you go to to a station that is a platform type without internal docking then you can usually offload your warez without fear of getting scanned at all - assuming Blackmarket is available. The only time I got caught was the first time I picked up a bunch of black boxes from a USS and went into a major hub - 18500CR fine for 10 Black Boxes IIRC, which sold for 2500CR each.

Lucky you! I got caught with 10 of the things and got a 50K fine and the Feds became hostile on the spot! And you are spot on, smugglers come in the back door... at outposts!

Canaris · Dec 10, 2014

Dakron Nova said:
So dont think I could have explained myself very clearly in the original post....apologies

Basically, could I drop a ton of gold, wait for someone to pick it up, scan them and collect a bounty?

Or does it have to be the Feds that scan them? And would they get a bounty to cover the cost of the gold?

It's an interesting idea but I don't think the player will become wanted if you scan them it might have to be a security ship for it to work. So I suppose you can entrap players but it would require some set up and luck,

ste · Dec 10, 2014

The fine seems to be about double the value of the cargo.

You dont get a bounty though until 24hours have passed so they could pick it up and wont be wanted till the next day anyway. So it would be murder.

Dakron Nova · Dec 10, 2014

ste said:
The fine seems to be about double the value of the cargo.

You dont get a bounty though until 24hours have passed so they could pick it up and wont be wanted till the next day anyway. So it would be murder.

Thanks for the answer, so we cant go fishing with our own bait then.

akaliel · Dec 10, 2014

Dakron Nova said:
So dont think I could have explained myself very clearly in the original post....apologies

Basically, could I drop a ton of gold, wait for someone to pick it up, scan them and collect a bounty?

Or does it have to be the Feds that scan them? And would they get a bounty to cover the cost of the gold?

You don't collect bounties for scanning ships. That I've seen anyway. I've only collected bounties for destroying ships. But a person is given time (24hrs, as stated earlier), to pay off a fine before a bounty is put on them. I've collected tons of accidental fines... Stupid loitering.

Dakron Nova · Dec 10, 2014

akaliel said:
You don't collect bounties for scanning ships.

Apologies, when I said "collect the bounty". I meant carry out the necessary "action" to make that happen ;-)

DraigUK · Dec 10, 2014

The fine you get is the value of the goods if sold legally. (more or less slight variation on prices of course)
When selling stuff on the Black market you get about half the value of selling it legally.
If you get scanned carrying stolen cargo, you get fined.
If you don't pay the fine in 24 hours you become wanted.
Easiest way to smuggle is take them to an Outpost (not Station) as you don't get scanned at Outposts.
Make sure said Outpost has a Black Market.
You can smuggle "old school" at Stations by going cold and sneaking in.
Or you can put your foot to the floor and get inside before being fully scanned.
Both methods are risky compared to taking stolen goods to an Outpost.
If you pick up stolen cargo and change your mind, eject it, but do so away from cops.
You can get fined for ejecting cargo.

Video of smuggling :-

[video=youtube;KbaLJTGHkj8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbaLJTGHkj8[/video]

Video of smuggling going a bit wrong :-

[video=youtube;8s11iSqywU4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s11iSqywU4[/video]

Roybe · Dec 10, 2014

I would like to put two coppers in this discussion. We are truly discussing two very different crimes. Smuggling and fencing. Smuggling is very profitable. You are providing a good in a legally restricted market, which creates an increased level of demand. The items being smuggled are worth so much more than market value, corruption is fairly easy and the on planet sales agent can operate with some level of impunity.

What we are doing is not smuggling. We are taking stolen items to a fence, who due to excess risk, can pay a lesser amount than the market to us, in the hopes of successfully selling those items without getting caught. Corruption surrounding this type of activity is not nearly as lucrative for those in charge and the rewards for catching the fence are so much better.

Now, where do I want to go with this? If you find something, it's considered stolen and should be fenced. If you buy a restricted item legally at a station and smuggle it in, there should be a very large return on the investment. Two different crimes, two different payoffs, same outcome if caught.

Niolator · Jul 1, 2015

I find the scanning to be set up wrong. I always get scanned several times by the same group of ships when system authority crafts show up. This means several fines for the same illicit cargo. This must be wrong as it would mean that, in our world, you could get fined several times by the same cops for the same violation of the law. Also, smuggling seem to be the worst crime you can commit in the Frontier galaxy. It takes a lot of missions to recover your reputation to what it was before getting caught for smuggling.

Pile_O_Gunz · Jul 1, 2015

Never been hit too hard by fines yet. I do push my luck though if I ever get caught smuggling a 100tons of slaves it's going to sting.