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Article created by: Gabija Saveiskyte

Every day, people engage in various activities that may not strictly adhere to the rules but are generally perceived as innocent and acceptable. More folks than any police station could handle would be found guilty of jaywalking each day, and don't get us started about messing with other people's mail...

To learn about all those "invisible" or "innocent" crimes that we do commit without giving them too much thought, u/Wowthatscrazyyylmao recently pondered "What’s an innocent crime that people commit?" on r/AskReddit. And boy did they get some interesting answers that we're excited to share with you.

#1

Person holding smartphone with finger about to tap screen, illustrating people share crimes you probably don't know. Selecting 'I have read and agree to the terms and conditions' without actually reading a single word. The biggest heist happening daily.

Wpstar_it , NordWood Themes Report

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    #2

    Stack of balanced stones on a calm shore illustrating balance and reflection for people sharing unexpected crimes insights. In Sweden, if a stone (anywhere) has ever been moved by a human and then left in the new place for more than 12 months it is illegal to move that stone again, because it has become a cultural artifact. This absurd law is actually enforced and creates a lot of problems for the people living in country side, but since laws are written by people in the cities it is not seen as a problem. The original reason for the law is to protect centuries old stonewalls. But because of how it is written it is used against people who for example temporarily move a stone to be able to reach that area. If the work is not finished within one year and the stone has not been moved in the mean time it is then illegal to move it back. Very innocent crime. Not a very innocent law, though. 

    GlobusGlobus , Mor Shani Report

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    #3

    Person wearing white shirt holding a large brown envelope, highlighting unusual crimes that people often don't know about. Here in Japan, it’s illegal to hand your neighbour’s misaddressed mail to them. In practice, we all do it.

    Maso_TGN , Tima Miroshnichenko Report

    #4

    Young woman with blonde hair blowing a pink bubblegum bubble, looking thoughtfully to the side, illustrating unusual crimes concept. What jurisdiction are we talking? Because in Singapore chewing gum is a crime. In Germany, if you run out of fuel on the Autobahn that's a crime. You can't take a selfie beside a statue of Buddha in Sri Lanka.

    EveryoneIsADose , Quinten de Graaf Report

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    #5

    Child sitting at a desk using a laptop, illustrating people sharing crimes that you probably don’t even know are crimes. For the kids saying they’re old enough to make an account on a website/app while being to young.

    Vaporc_ , Thomas Park Report

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    #6

    Person organizing various pills in a weekly pill organizer, highlighting crimes people may not know are crimes. putting prescription pills in a daily reminder case ( M T W TH F S S)

    krautspieler , Laurynas Mereckas Report

    #7

    Broken windows on an abandoned brick building, illustrating urban decay linked to unusual crimes people may not know. Exploring abandoned buildings. My old school shut down years ago and my friends and I used to walk around in there filming videos and audio and collecting stuff that got left behind (which was almost everything, the whole library was still the way it was when they left)

    Limp-Salamander6255 , Tara Evans Report

    #8

    Underwater image of a large school of fish swimming in clear blue ocean water with ocean floor visible below. Getting a fish drunk… That’s an Ohio State law. It’s illegal to get a fish drunk.

    No_Hunt7394 , Sebastian Pena Lambarri Report

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    #9

    Empty parking lot illuminated by streetlights at night, evoking a mysterious atmosphere linked to unknown crimes. I drive home from work in the middle of the night, and there's one left turn I have to make at a red light every night that is infuriatingly badly timed for that hour. The pharmacy on that corner has been closed up for an hour by the time I get there and the parking lot is always empty, so driving through that to save myself 45 interminable seconds is as victimless a crime as one can commit, if it even is a crime.

    gorka_la_pork , Keagan Henman Report

    #10

    Person walking across a street at a crosswalk, illustrating unexpected crimes people may not know about. jaywalking.

    frogs_69 , refargotohp Report

    #11

    Person holding a small notepad and pen, highlighting unusual crimes people probably don’t know about. as a server, not inputting my cash tips on my taxes; actually didn’t even know you even needed to do that until a few years ago, after i had been working in the food industry for well over six years. evidently, none of my coworkers were aware of this either

    lavaniani , Jessie McCall Report

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    #12

    White car speeding on a wet street with blurred background illustrating crimes people probably don’t know are crimes. In the US low effort speeding (1-10 mph over posted limits) is fairly common.

    Aezetyr , Mauro Sbicego Report

    #13

    Barbed wire fence with no trespassing sign warning people about crimes related to unauthorized entry in rural area. Trespassing. Trespassing is an intent crime where knowledge of trespassing isn't required to be guilty or liable of trespassing. Simply intending to enter into land owned by another without permission, even on the mistaken belief that the land was public ,or that they had permission, or that they owned that part of the land, is not a valid defense against the fact of trespass. We see this all the time when people are out walking around and cut through a parking lot as a means for short cutting their route. Many people think parking lots are inherently public property. But they are still owned by someone, that someone may choose to not allow unauthorized cut through, for safety reasons, maybe its a bank, or there's a private event with a liquor license requiring only authorized individuals on the property. Either way, the property owner has that right. No need to post signs, but in order for a trespass to be arrestable, the offender must be informed, told to leave and either refuse to leave or return later and reaffend.

    NathanTPS , Greg Jewett Report

    #14

    Audience watching a movie in a vintage theater, illustrating unexpected crimes people may not know about. Paying to watch one movie, then watching another one before leaving the theater.

    NoblesCraig , Jake Hills Report

    #15

    Black mailboxes with overflowing letters and newspapers, illustrating common crimes people probably don’t know. Dropping something off in someone's mailbox.

    CosmicCommando , the blowup Report

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    #16

    Baskets of red, green, and black grapes displayed at a market, illustrating everyday items linked to surprising crimes. Tasting grapes in the grocery store

    Bizzlebanger , Lisa Summerour Report

    #17

    People in line with shopping carts inside a store, illustrating common crimes many people probably don’t know. Inputing “no bags” at the self checkout at the grocery store to avoid the $0.10 fee

    FunPills , Adrien Delforge Report

    #18

    Multiple jars of Gerber baby food labeled turkey flavor, illustrating unusual crimes people share about food packaging. A poor person stealing a small amount of baby food. I'd see it when I worked at a market and I'd just look the other way.

    Jugales , Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue Report

    #19

    Person slouched on a bench at night wearing a jacket and sneakers, highlighting unusual crimes people share. It's illegal to pass out food to homeless people in some cities

    jarchack , Nathan Dumlao Report

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    #20

    Two mason jars with lemon and lime slices in water, illustrating unexpected crimes shared by people. Apparently being 5 years old and having a lemonade stand

    lightspinnerss , Marina Grynykha Report

    #21

    Young man lying in backseat of a car outdoors, illustrating unexpected crimes people probably don't even know are crimes. Apparently in the Aussie city of Brisbane sleeping in your car even if it’s due to fatigue is considered camping in public and thus illegal.

    Slavx97 , Elvis Bekmanis Report

    #22

    Cars refueling at a Shell gas station at night, illustrating scenarios related to crimes people might not know about. Leaving the car unlocked when unattended. Like going in to pay for your fuel. Apparently illegal in Aus.

    MiddleConstruction84 , Szabolcs Toth Report

    #23

    Interior view of a multi-level shopping mall with people, illustrating crimes people probably don't even know are crimes. Not really sure how innocent it is since it's pretty much their State's only real revenue source but just about everybody (who owns a car) from Vancouver, Washington shops in Portland, Oregon whenever they can in order to not pay Sales tax even though it's illegal to not report/pay it as a Washington resident even when you are shopping out-of-State.

    RRW359 , Sangga Rima Roman Selia Report

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    #24

    Stop sign partially covered by bushes, illustrating crimes that people probably don’t even know are crimes. Rolling through stop signs. Ain't no way we're stopping for the full 3 seconds...

    slargle12 , Juli Kosolapova Report

    #25

    Red traffic light at night with a crescent moon in the sky, illustrating crimes people probably don't know are crimes. Running a red light late at night when there is absolutely no traffic in sight

    Content_Pool_1391 , Lawrence Chismorie Report

    #26

    Close-up of an orange and white feather resting on a dark surface, illustrating details people share about unusual crimes. Picking up bird feathers. Obviously it’s not really a crime, but under the migratory bird act, because you can’t PROVE where you got it from, you also can’t prove that you didn’t poach it. It was made in response to massive bird poaching around the turn of the 1900s for women’s hats but… also massive amounts of bird hunting in general, which was causing the severe decline in hundreds of species. After all, we know what happened to the passenger pigeons. As a result it’s actually a severe crime (thousands and thousands of dollars in fines) to own bird feathers, but obviously it’s not one that’s actually convicted on much nowadays.

    MadameCat , Alexander Sinn Report

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    #27

    A pile of CDs reflecting colorful light, illustrating common crimes related to digital copying and media piracy. Piracy, especially when it comes to videogames. As time goes on games stop being sold and in some cases they are impossible to get except if you pay extremely inflated prices in the resell market. Often time companies won’t ever see another dime from that game, so it’s not really costing them any money. So why is it such a big deal?

    AwesomeEevee133 , Cameron Bunney Report