Employee Theft is a Crime in Atlanta Georgia

May 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Employee theft is a crime and against the law just like any other crime, but don’t expect the police to react to it in the same way that they react like other crimes like purse snatching, robbery, or burglary.  In fact, just call the police and ask them to investigate a theft that you suspect one of your employees may have committed, and unless it involves a whole lot of merchandise or money, don’t expect a robust employee theft investigation to be conducted.  This is no indictment against law enforcement or individual law enforcement departments or officers, but they have better things to do.  And off the record, I’ve had a police investigator tell me, “Don’t expect me to get excited about something that the employer should have prevented in the first place.”

So what can a business owner do if he suspects an employee has or is continuing to steal from him?  Ask him?  Confront him?  Set him up?

The best bet is to find someone who knows in detail how businesses operate and also has the investigative skill set to analyze a problem and offer not only an immediate solution, but also ways to avoid internal theft in the future.

A corporate fraud investigator is trained and experienced in dealing with incidents of internal theft – money, merchandise, other property and supplies, time, identity, or even intellectual property.  It’s an unfortunate fact that your own employees can hurt your business in ways that even your competition can’t.  A corporate fraud investigator has the resources to deal with employee theft on every level, from white collar crime like embezzlement to minor pilfering like candy bars and snacks.  Why would an employer worry about minor pilfering?  Multiply 15 employees times a $1.00 candy bar times 5 days a week for 50 weeks.  $3750.00 per year in employee theft through pilferage.  And that’s just at a dollar each.

While conducting an employee theft investigation, a corporate fraud investigator will develop information through observation and interviews with the employees just how widespread the employee theft actually is. Business owners and managers are frequently shocked when they discover the scope of internal theft cause by employees at their business.  Employee theft has a tendency to spread among employees until it almost commonplace if not stopped in its early stages.

To speak with a corporate fraud investigator about and employee theft investigation or internal theft in Atlanta Georgia or elsewhere, call 770-426-0547 or click here for more information.

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The Clothing Alarm Stops Loss

May 17, 2011 by

I’m certain clothing alarm developers had a wide vision of stopping loss when they created this little piece of clothing security history. A clothing alarm is an excellent way to keep the thieves at bay and give your profits that extra boost.

The first time I had seen a clothing alarm was at a discount clothing retailer. Speaking with my business partner, he showed me just how this new form of clothing security worked. Once a clothing security tag is affixed to the article, it cannot be removed without a key from the register. If the clothing security tags are tampered with, or if someone attempts to remove the device without the proper removal key, the clothing alarm activates. What a step up in clothing security. At first, I thought the security tags on clothes might be ineffective, but when I heard the alarm, it was certainly loud enough to take away the thief’s privacy and notify any available employee to the area.

This retailer was very well protected. It was no wonder this store was always busy and very profitable. They had all aspects of the business right, including clothing security.

Looking at this business, the store also had a well-executed clothing security tags program. Many times, I have seen a new business with a large and proper supply of clothing security tags, yet they sat in the receiving room unused. Security tags on clothes can only assist your business and boost your profits if they’re used. It’s pointless and somewhat irresponsible for a business owner or manager to invest in security tags on clothes and not ensure compliance. As a matter of fact, clothing security tags get damaged, lost, misused, abused and trashed by sitting around in backrooms. Not to mention, it kills your stores profitability. Invest in a clothing security program and FOLLOW THROUGH!

Visit The Retail Loss Prevention Store to purchase Clothing Security Tags.

For more information contact us at clothing alarm or call 1.770.426.0547

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Prevent Shoplifting – A Controllable Expense

May 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Retailers look for ways to prevent shoplifting when shoplifting causes problems with the P&L.  The business owner has to buy replacement merchandise to replace merchandise that is gone but hasn’t been sold.  Shoplifting can cause inventory shortages up to 3% or higher of total sales for a given period, higher that the net margin percentage for many businesses.

There are a lot of ways to begin the battle to prevent shoplifting, so the merchant is faced with choices.  More staff?  CCTV? Lockable displays? Merchandising plans?  Staff awareness training?  Retail anti theft devices?

All these things contribute to reduce shoplifting, but the retail business owner has to weigh expense against savings; merchandise security against customer access; and customer inconvenience against an invitation to touch, feel, and try on or try out merchandise that is openly displayed.

In other words, what action is going to have the biggest ROI, and keep the merchandise on the racks and on the shelves until a legitimate customer purchases it?

Checkpoint Systems Electronic Article Surveillance is one of the best and most efficient ways to prevent shoplifting while still leaving merchandise accessible to interested customers.  Checkpoint tags and Checkpoint labels attached to high dollar/high theft articles mean that if merchandise that hasn’t had the tags or labels removed at the point of sale exits the store by the Checkpoint Systems antennas, an alarm will sound.  The presence of the antennas at the entrance/exit to the store is enough to deter all but the most determined shoplifters.  Genuine Checkpoint labels and Checkpoint tags must be deactivated at the register or removed by a special tool in order not to set off the alarm.  It is simply to much work for a shoplifter to attempt to do this himself, and a shoplifter would surely attract attention if trying to remove it.  Shoplifters fine it much easier to find another store with similar merchandise but no Checkpoint Systems protection.

For a look at what’s available from Checkpoint Systems, Checkpoint tags, Checkpoint labels and much more, visit our Online Retail Loss Prevention Store.

To speak with someone on even more ways to prevent shoplifting, call 770-426-0547 or click here for more information on Checkpoint Systems, Checkpoint tags, and Checkpoint labels.

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Employee Theft in the News

May 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Most employee theft cases never make the news, but the highly unusual ones or those that involve tens of thousands of dollars sometimes make it to the six o’clock broadcast or the local morning paper.

One such incident occurred recently near Albany, NY, when an employee of a major retailer was arrested and charged with the theft of over $42,000 in jewelry since 2009.  That’s a lot of jewelry, even for a department store.

Read the entire story here.

The theft was discovered by Loss Prevention and store management when a merchandise audit showed an excess of items unaccounted for.  When the loss prevention investigator confronted the employee, she was wearing some of the stolen jewelry.

The takeaway from this story was in a quote by the police lieutenant assigned to the case: “When we get these internal theft cases, it’s someone they trust.  It ends up being a significant amount of money before it’s found out.”  He added the internal theft of this magnitude happen about six times a year at his department.

According to the police, the ex-employee sold some of the jewelry to pay bills, kept some for personal use, and gave some away as gifts.

No matter the reason, employee theft hurts businesses both large and small.  As a matter of fact, it probably harms small businesses even more, since they operate on smaller revenues, and don’t have an employee specifically tasked as a loss prevention investigator.  Small business’ ownership and employees are generally more close-knit and more like family than those of a large employer.  Because of familiarity, there is a tendency to trust employees of a small business more and give them more responsibilities with less supervision.

When a small business owner suspects internal theft, it is difficult for him to view the situation from an objective standpoint.  Frequently by the time there is an indication of employee theft, the problem has reached a point where it goes deeper than one employee and involves large amounts of merchandise, money, or other assets.

Loss prevention consultants can develop and conduct loss prevention audits that will expose vulnerabilities in supervision, policies, and procedures.  If a problem is suspected, loss prevention consultants can isolate the cause and determine the solution.  If there are dishonest employees involved, the loss prevention investigator has the ability to gain knowledge through interviews with key personnel and make appropriate recommendations.

Don’t wait until employee theft puts you and your company in the headlines.  Take action to prevent it from happening in the first place with an unbiased and objective analysis from experienced loss prevention consultants.

Call 770-426-0547 to discuss your employee theft suspicions with an experienced loss prevention investigator, or click here for more information.

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Prevent Shoplifting by Teenagers

May 14, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Is it more difficult to prevent shoplifting by teenagers than it is adults?  Maybe so.

Teenagers and younger do know right from wrong, so there’s no difference there.  There is apparently more susceptibility to peer pressure, not just regarding shoplifting, but in just about everything they do.  It seems as though they listen to the same music, watch the same TV shows, and dress alike most of the time.

To the retailer, the reasons don’t really matter much.  It’s the result of teenage shoplifters that really hurt the bottom line.

I’ve seen signs at the entrances of convenience stores that limit the number of teenagers allowed on the premises at any one time.  I remember as a young person being watched whenever I went into a store with one or more friends, when no adults were present.  Clearly, shoplifting by teenagers is a problem for many retailers who are always looking for better ways to prevent shoplifting.

Teenagers are going to shoplift.  There is no doubt about that.  Not every teenager, of course, but according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, around 24% of apprehended shoplifters are teenagers.

One reason teenagers are bold shoplifters seems to be that they are unafraid of punishment.  They realize that if caught as a first timer, they are apt to be dealt with lightly by the justice system, if not their parents.  As a facilitator for a county program aimed to prevent shoplifting among teenagers, I found very few apprehended teenagers had been told specifically not to shoplift by their parents.  Now I’m sure they were never specifically told not to steal a car either, but like shoplifting, because the parents never thought their kids would shoplift.

But the fact is that they do. 

One way to ease the retailer’s mind about shoplifting and the problems it brings is the installation of Checkpoint Security Systems EAS.  Teens and other shoplifters recognize Checkpoint Systems as they enter the store and realize that their plans to shoplift just ran into a snag.  Application of Checkpoint tags and Checkpoint labels to high theft merchandise makes shoplifting too much like work for the thief as they are unable to remove or deactivate the tags and labels (it can only be done by the cashier with the proper equipment) and they then decide to go to another store where there is no EAS equipment installed.

Short of barring teens from the store, Checkpoint Security Systems is the most efficient and economical way to prevent shoplifting from any retail environment.

Call 770-426-0547 or click here to learn more ways to prevent shoplifting, and information about Checkpoint tags, Checkpoint labels, and Checkpoint Security Systems.

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Clothing Security Solutions Provide Solid Sales

May 14, 2011 by

Sales, Sales, Sales … and Clothing security. That’s the traditional thought of many retailers. Although for some reason, some managers still do not see the true value of Clothing security.

Convincing business owners and managers of the advantages of clothing security tags and a clothing alarm can be a challenge. Many, as is appropriate, get stuck in the sales, sales, sales mode yet forget that as equally important is clothing security. Having no merchandise in their stores to sell is the biggest negative impact retailers can face. Security tags on clothes can be the solution, but the mindset of the retailers has to be one outside of the box.

Clothing security tags , when used with a clothing alarm , offer a wide range of protection for the merchant. From a shoplifter’s standpoint, they want ease and convenience. They want to be able to get in and out of a store with little friction. Simply observing security tags on clothes will immediately deter many potential thieves. Security tags on clothes are solid little devices position on clothing for the convenience of the customer, the convenience of the sales associate and the inconvenience of the dirt bag looking to clear your racks. As a loss prevention professional, I can tell you many stories of retailers wanting to sell merchandise without clothing security tags. Many times, I have seen these businesses continue to sell merchandise having no security tags on clothes and actually believing they are staying profitable. Yet when the inventory results are returned, they get a rude awakening.

Protecting your sales falls in line with protecting your profits, clothing security tags are a must in any retailer selling clothing. It’s almost reckless for a business to display merchandise without clothing security tags… it’s an invitation to thieves. Think of it this way, if you are one of those stubborn retailers wanting hold out. When a thief walks into a business with clothing security tags, 9 times out of 10, they will walk out and look for the easy mark, or the store without clothing security tags.

Visit the Retail Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or security tags.

For more information contact us at clothing security or call 1.770.426.0547

 

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Employee Theft – It Could be Worse

May 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

That’s right, your problems with employee theft could be worse if you had hired a person like the one who worked at the U.S. Marshal’s Service in Washington, D.C.

According to an article at the Examiner online a ten-year employee was sentenced in Federal Court to 21 months in prison plus 3 years probation and restitution of $104,000.

What made this case seem unusual to me were the different ways the former employee who worked as an administrative officer at the Superior Court found to defraud her employer.  None of these ways by themselves are all that unusual, but for one person to come up with these schemes shows that she really put forth some effort to get over on her employer.  Just one avenue of employee theft was not enough.

The ex-employee admitted to:

· Used an agency credit card to pay personal expenses
· Created a fictitious employee and submitted false time and attendance records for that employee for a year, converting the payroll dollars to her use
· Had U.S. Treasury checks issued to pay down the balances on her personal credit cards by referencing false invoices

The grand total of admission was $104,000 – your and my tax money, by the way.  Aand this is probably al she could remember.  Surely there’s more.

Of course the really ironic thing about this article is that the victim was the U. S. Marshal’s Service.

If a federal law enforcement agency can become a victim of employee theft, what chance do the rest of us have?

Lesson learned: Never let one employee, no matter how trusted, take so much responsibility that no supervisor or auditor ever checks up on all their work functions; Require at least two sets of eyes on every disbursement before the money is paid; Audit payroll occasionally; Review company credit card activity often; Trust but verify!

White collar crime has a huge impact on private businesses in every category.  Each business has to take the initiative to protect itself from internal theft.  Loss prevention consultants are business-oriented professionals who act to prevent employee theft through an objective look at the business’ policies and initiate and conduct an employee theft investigation if called for, and bring an unpleasant situation to a satisfactory conclusion.

Call 770-426-0547 to speak with one of our loss prevention consultants about potential employee theft situations or an employee theft investigation at your business, or click here for more information.

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Tips and Tricks to Prevent Shoplifting

May 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Sometimes it is the little things that can become big ways to prevent shoplifting. A primary example is to arrange your shelving and displays to maximize the viewing area for your cashiers. For locations that are tougher to see you can use convex mirrors or cameras that are attached to monitors located at the front of your store.

 Shoplifters prefer not to be seen and if you are not careful you could create a great environment for theft without realizing. If you keep everything open and long line of sights, a potential shoplifter will feel as though they cannot move without being seen by someone.

 Another thing to remember is to keep your less expensive items close to the doors and the more expensive items further away. This will make it tougher for the shoplifting “track stars” that instead of trying to be stealthy, prefer to grab and item and 40 yd dash out your front door.

 Also, having helpful and friendly personnel great all of your customers can greatly reduce shoplifting as well. When an employee makes eye contact and greets your customers, it will make your paying customers feel welcomer but will also make your thieves realize that there is now someone who can identify them.

 If you find yourself still losing too much profit to people with sticky fingers, I would recommend purchasing an Electronic Article Surveillance system or as I like to call it, “one of those things that go beep beep beep when someone steals something” system. With one of these systems, you tag the merchandise that you do not want stolen and if someone tries to, even the track star, the system will alarm and let you and your associates know that a piece of merchandise is leaving the store when it shouldn’t.

 To purchase an EAS system or EAS tags visit our website.

For more information on how to Prevent Shoplifting or one of our many other blogs to improve your bottom line, visit us online or call 1-770-426-0547

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How to out think a thief…it’s not that hard.

May 12, 2011 by

Here are a few thoughts that might pass through a potential shoplifter’s mind when you have a clothing security system.

Just the fact that you have a clothing alarm system will visually deter a high percentage of shoplifters. When a casual shoplifter walks into your store and notices that you have a clothing security system, they probably won’t even attempt to steal from you. They will go to a store that does not have an Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) system or security tags on clothes.

For the savvier thief, they might test to see if the clothing alarm system will alarm if an item that has not been purchased presented to the system. These people will take an item that they are potentially going to steal and walk by the system without trying to leave, to see if the system will alarm. If you were to have a “dummy” system at your front door to only visually deter people, this is where it would fail you. Once one person knows that your system does not work properly, then you might as well put a sign up saying that it doesn’t. Thieves will tell their friends and the word will spread through the underbelly of society quicker than you can imagine.

When the clothing security system passes the test and goes into alarm the shoplifter will realize that they have brought attention to themselves and probably return the item to the nearest shelf and leave. The only option that the shoplifter would have left is to try and remove the clothing security tags. Security tags on clothes are not easily removed and can draw attention to the illegal act that they are trying to perform.

This is why clothing alarm systems, combined with an attentive and knowledgeable staff will allow you to watch your retail loss shrink in front of your very eyes.

To purchase security tags on clothes check out our website.

For more information about clothing security systems, security tags on clothes , clothing security tags or clothing alarm contact us at clothing security tags or call 1.770.426.0547.

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Employee Theft: An Unauthorized Benefit in Atlanta Georgia

May 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Employee theft often comes as a surprise and a shock to a business owner who discovers that he’s become a victim.  The employer frequently feels betrayed, particularly if the theft occurred from a small business, because the thief is someone almost like family, well liked and trusted.  The employer thinks that here is someone who he gave a job to, paid a fair wage, advised and trained and is repaid by having money taken from his pocket by a thief.

So why do employees steal and what can an employer do to soften the blow?  First the employer should know whom he is hiring.  Even if the applicant is Aunt Fanny’s preacher’s cousin, the wise employer is going to check his background and talk to some former employers.  Ask the right questions during the interview to be sure the applicant is going to fit in to the organization with as little baggage as possible.

Employees may steal to support a habit – alcohol, drugs, gambling, boy or girlfriends; there may be a legitimate need for more money – illness, fire, accident, or some other tragedy; there may be simple greed – just wanting things that aren’t affordable; perceived injustice – an expected raise that doesn’t come through, a disciplinary action, or reduction in hours.  Any number of things may cause and employee to steal from work.  After all, what easier place is there to steal from than one the thief is familiar with and everyone knows and trusts him?

Because an owner can’t be everywhere at once, and because a certain amount of delegation is necessary, employee theft is going to happen.

What does an owner do if he suspects internal theft may be going on?  As hard as it will be to do, the problem must be faced objectively.  In the words of Deputy Barney Fife of Mayberry, “You’ve got to nip it… Nip it in the bud!”

An employee theft investigation is a specialized type of criminal investigation that requires a certain kind of mindset to conduct.  The loss prevention investigator is part cop, part businessman, and part auditor.  He or she will gather and assess the evidence of the crime, whether it’s merchandise or money.  After that, a plan of action might be surveillance, witness interviews, or maybe interviews with those suspected of the criminal acts.

Frequently, it’s better for a business owner to use a qualified loss prevention investigator to conduct the employee theft investigation as an objective outside and experienced source.  The loss prevention investigator will advise the owner of the steps that can and should be taken to bring the investigation to a successful conclusion, from restitution to prosecution, efficiently and economically.

Call 770-426-0547 to discuss employee theft with an experienced loss prevention investigator in Atlanta Georgia or click here for more information.

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