Citizen calls made to Crime Stoppers have helped nab and curtail looters taking advantage of abandoned properties during the flood.

The threat of looting has made it harder to convince some residents to leave their homes.

Crime Stoppers chief executive Trevor O'Hara said the group has received 22 anonymous calls since January 12 that provided information on those suspected of looting. "In the most serious of cases a Capalaba male has been charged with stealing after being reported to be in possession of a new boat worth approximately $8000," O'Hara said in a statement.

"Police subsequently investigated the anonymous information reported to Crime Stoppers and charged the man with theft of the boat from the Pinkenba area."

Looting reports are currently being studied by police.One of the looting cases involved a man charged with looting $1000 worth of alcohol and cigarettes from a business in Gailes while another person was accused of stealing $1200 worth of workwear in Salisbury.

"The public are the eyes and ears of our community and Queenslanders will not tolerate criminal gain in times of hardship," O'Hara said. All calls made to Crime Stoppers are guaranteed to be anonymous with callers never asked to identify themselves. During times of natural disaster, punishment for looting increases from five years to 10 years.