Hand radical - copying out by hand and confiscating both involve the hands physically taking / transcribing. 抄 joins 扌 with 拿 take, 抓 grab, 拍 pat. The radical also captures the 'doing it manually' nuance: 抄写 hand-copy, distinct from 复印 photocopy.
Phonetic - 少 → 抄 (regular sibilant shift). Same phonetic powers 吵 noisy, 炒 stir-fry, 钞 banknote, 砂 sand - all chǎo / shā family. Faint mnemonic: copying out 'a little at a time'.
