Subcontracting a loss prevention agent in Atlanta a great value at $399 per month

September 9, 2010 by

 

Many businesses are considering subcontracting a loss prevention agent as a solution to problems with short staffing.  The down economy has just about all businesses looking at lowering overhead costs.  Payroll is at the top of the list and often one of the first areas business leaders look at to get costs down.

Companies who have loss prevention staff have most likely not only let go of in store personnel but cut back on regional staff as well.  This means the loss prevention program is not being worked regularly at the store level.  Unfortunately since 43% of all inventory shrinkage is due to employee theft, and the em[ployees know when there are staffing cuts, they can see this as an opportunity to steal more and more often.

A loss prevention agent will start by simply observing the current daily practices, procedures and facility.  A loss prevention audit should then be performed to organize findings and develop a loss prevention plan.  This plan is then put into practice through employee training, supervision and reinforcement.

Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. of Atlanta offers an outsourced loss prevention agent plan for as little as $399 per month.  This will include the initial audit as well as random unannounced audits throughout the year.  An allowance for employee theft investigations is included as well as regular reports, loss prevention posters for employee areas and more.

To learn more go to: loss prevention agent 

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Employee Background Checks… What is the Applicant Hiding?

September 9, 2010 by

Most employers who conduct  employee background checks look first to determine if their applicant has a criminal history.  While this is important, there are other factors to consider when performing an employee screening.

Today, we’ll look at previous employment references, and what the employer should consider.

First determine if the previous employer is legitimate.  A reputable background screening company won’t depend on the contact information provided by the applicant, but will contact an actual human resources representative or other record keeper to verify employment information.  While this information may be limited by company policy, chances are the records are accurate as to dates of employment and position.  Some companies will provide more information such as eligibility for rehire or the reason for termination.

Which brings us to the question of inaccurate dates of employment provided by the applicant.  Frequently, date stretching is done deliberately to cover periods of unemployment, a negative job experience, or even incarceration, and should not be overlooked during a background check.

Overstating the job title is also a red flag.  An applicant may attempt to enhance his prospects by inflating his responsibilities and abilities to obtain a position for which he or she is unqualified and lacks the skills; a fact the employer may only discover when it is time for a performance review.  A hiring mistake based on this misinformation can be annoying and costly.

Pay attention to any gaps in employment history and periods of “Self Employment”.  Have the applicant adequately explain these periods to determine the validity of the claims and the reasons for them.

The ultimate question is this:  Has the applicant represented himself truthfully regarding his previous employment or has he misstated his responsibilities, time on the job, or reason for leaving?

The employee background check is a valuable tool to assist employers in making optimum hiring decisions.

For further information on employment background checks, contact us at 1-770-426-0547 or click here.

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Employee Fraud….Cash is King in Atlanta

September 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment

A study done by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners titled the 2008 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse reported that companies with less than 100 workers are “the most vulnerable to fraud and abuse” by employees. Employee fraud is rampant and the number one fraud scheme is embezzlement. This also applies to businesses in Atlanta.

More than 80% of all employee fraud investigations involve some type of embezzlement.  Embezzlement is defined as an employee taking company assets.  What is targeted over 90% of the time? COLD HARD CASH!

The theft of cash is considered direct fraud.  This type of employee fraud is called a cash theft scheme.  Direct fraud means the employee has stolen cash, tools or other assets.  This can also include falsifying purchase orders or invoices and pocketing company funds. This is commonly called fraudulent disbursement of cash.

Indirect fraud can include an employee taking payments from vendors or customers to allow for some sort of advantage, such as lower sales prices.

Many types of fraud schemes can continue for years without detection and cost small businesses millions of dollars.  Unfortunately the report also showed that occupational frauds are much more likely to be detected by a tip from an employee or insider than by audits or any other controls. This is most likely because many companies do not put enough emphasis on auditing as a prevention tool.

If you feel your company or small business is threatened by employee fraud, contact us at employee fraud call 770.426.0547.

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Loss Prevention in Atlanta…Do You Have a Plan?

September 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Most large retailers in Atlanta and elsewhere suffer “shrinkage” of less than 2% of their revenue, but did you know that small business retailers often suffer “shrinkage” of up to 20% month over month?  If your business does not have a loss prevention plan, get one, NOW.

Loss prevention involves all types of retail item loss.  According to Wikipedia, the following outline losses of inventory percentages and their causes:

  • 46.8% from employee theft
  • 31.6% from shoplifting
  • 14.4% from administrative error
  • 3.75% from vendor error
  • 2.86% from unknown error.

The above listed reasons are not the only culprits for loses.  Credit card fraud, check fraud, and skimming can also be considered causes of “shrinkage”.  So what can a small business do to prevent these types of problems from occurring?

Have procedures in place such as the method a cashier checks out a customer? Have them check the bottom of the basket first.  “Bottom of basket” loss occurs when either a customer does not indicate other items are below where the employee can’t see or they are forgotten.  This can be prevented with proper training of employees.

I’ve noticed many retail outlets have anti-shoplifting alarm systems on articles, such as clothing.  However, when the article passes through the alarm and it goes off, no one responds.  Have a loss prevention employee that is responsible for checking the bags and receipts of existing customers.

By having a plan in place, you can decrease the “mysterious disappearance” of items in your retail outlet. 

Need additional advice on loss prevention?  Contact us at loss prevention   or call 1.770.426.0547.

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Corporate Fraud And The Relationship To Trust

September 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

In my over 30 years of corporate fraud investigation I have come to a sad but simple reality. Management uses the wrong kind of trust when dealing with employees, assets, cash and the rest. I have finished the investigation, the employee has confessed and we are filing criminal charges. At that point the manager or owner says something like “I trusted that person”.

They feel guilty, are angry and question their own skills. It is not their skills that they should be questioning. In this world there are two kinds of trust: personal trust and business trust.

Personal trust is the kind you have with your best buddy. They are always there for you and you for them. You would trust them with your house, car, spouse and dog. You know that no mater what they have your best interests in mind.

Business trust is defined in three words: Trust But Verify. That’s it! You do not have the luxury of doing anything else.

Most reasons that we end up doing a corporate fraud investigation is that management uses personal trust in a business environment. This is business not personal and if your management style is to be “friends” with your employees then you should probably change careers.

You are responsible for an incredible amount of assets and liability. In most cases you’re not the owner of the company (but this applies to owners as well). As a professional you realize that you must protect those assets to keep the company profitable, which insures that, your employees have a job.

To do this you must trust but verify. I am not advocating that you are always watching over people’s shoulders. In fact a healthy work environment gives employees the ability to grow and do things in their own style.

That doesn’t mean that we just walk away and let them run wild. People like a structured environment. So what do you do? Here is an example; you receive a shipment. The person who is responsible for checking it in is almost finished. Pull part of the paperwork and audit 10% of it. When they say to you “I just did that” you reply, “ It looks like you did a great job to, it is accurate, thank you and good work”.

As a professional you cannot afford to use personal trust in a business environment unless a frequent corporate fraud investigation is your thing.

For more information: corporate fraud investigation or call 1.770.426.0547

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Mandatory Employee Screening Anyone?

September 5, 2010 by

Have you ever wondered if every employee that you are hiring should have to pass a criminal background check? I know that it increases the cost of hiring. But if you add up the hiring costs and training expenses when trying to determine an ROI of a new employee, the cost of employment screening is marginal. However, the costs of not using a background check company could be astronomical.

Have you considered that you could be hiring someone with a very bad driving record as a delivery truck driver? The bad driving record could include speeding offenses and minor moving infractions such as rolling through a stop sign. But it could also represent a tendency for careless or reckless driving. If your new delivery driver has been convicted of driving under the influence and he gets behind the wheel of your delivery truck intoxicated, you could be held accountable for his actions. Your insurance costs could sky rocket and a possible law suit could put your business at risk. A background check company could have been your best friend.

When comparing the costs of employment screening versus disastrous actions caused by employees, wouldn’t you agree that it is in the best interest of everyone that employee background checks are mandatory for everyone during the hiring process. Depending on the type of your business you should conduct employee background checks on your employees during their whole employment.

Employment screening is not something you should ignore or dismiss as unnecessary.

For more information, visit employee background checks or call 1.770.426.0547

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Not Reporting Employee Theft, Management Failure At It’s Worst

September 4, 2010 by Leave a Comment

In some businesses employee theft has been going on for so long that it has escalated into a serious problem that is not only right under managements nose but actually condoned.

Take a retail store as an example. In the beginning management overlooks employees taking small items such as candy, sodas… It goes on for so long that it not only becomes the norm but also actually happens right in front of management. Those same managers do nothing. So the employees learn that this is acceptable behavior. Even worse the same managers do it to!

A candy bar for $1.50 (remember when they were $0.50?) stolen by an employee is not just a loss of $1.50. If your stores profit margin is 2% then that employee just ate $75.00 (1.50 / .02). You will have to sell $75 to BREAK EVEN. Let’s say that same employee does that four times a week for a year. That’s $15,600.00 that you will have to sell to break even on a thief with a sweet tooth.

If management allow that to go on or condones it then others will do the same. “It’s OK” becomes the standard. Which means that employee theft becomes the norm. I can also tell you for a fact that it will not stop there. Some companies have a policy that if a cashier is only short $5.00 at the end of the day that they do not investigate it. That tells the cashiers that it is OK to steal $4.99 and below. To a cashier that is lunch money, gasoline (OK not very much gasoline, but still!).

The problem is that this can simply creep up on a business. It starts out little and gets bigger. That’s the culture that has been established. Most employee theft starts out small. After that the thief gets bolder and then we wonder why it has happened.

You must establish a zero theft policy. Draw a line in the sand and do not just look the other way. Employee theft will not go away on its own.

For more information: employee theft or call 1.770.426.0547

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Atlanta Corporate Fraud Investigators Get Office Manager To Confess To $55,000 In Employee Theft

September 3, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Atlanta based Loss Prevention Systems’  corporate fraud investigator gets confession from Office Manager stating she stole over $55,000 by issuing checks to phony vendors.

The Accounting Department of an Atlanta area company noticed an unusual increase in supply expenses from one of its branch locations. Upon reviewing the payables, we were contacted to investigate the cause of the sudden increase.

Our corporate fraud investigator found a total of 57 company checks made out to two fictitious vendors and deposited to a single account. The checks had been produced by a former Office Manager of the company.

The former manager was located and contacted, and agreed to an interview with our investigator. In the subsequent interview, the former manager admitted to the theft of over $55,000.00 over a period of five months.

She would make out the checks to her own bogus company, then change the payee in the accounting system to a legitimate vendor, making it appear that a true invoice had been paid.

The former employee signed a statement admitting guilt and agreeing to pay the money back.

With this information and the checks as evidence, he employer took a warrant for the arrest of the former manager, charging her with Grand Larceny.

Loss Prevention Systems is an Atlanta area based company offering a very unique  corporate fraud investigation service to businesses, often partnering with CPA’s CFE’s and attorneys.  Our staff are licensed, professionally trained and certified investigators and interrogators who produce written confessions and iron clad cases for criminal and civil prosecution if desired with a 100% conviction rate.

If you suspect you are a victim of corporate fraud, employee theft ( white collar crime, internal theft) or you are a professional working a corporate fraud investigation and would like help getting to the truth, contact Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. in Atlanta here.

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Employee theft in Atlanta #1 source of reatil loss

September 3, 2010 by Leave a Comment

25% of economy in Atlanta is based on retail and close to half of all retail inventory losses are due to employee theft. Imagine what a boost the Atlanta economy would realize if businesses cut their losses in half or more.

Employee theft accounts for the largest source of inventory loss to retailers beating out the #2 source, shoplifting.  Many retailers are surprised to find that the people they trust and socialize with are stealing them blind.

The University of Florida reports annually on retail security and the report is considered to be the “Bible” of the loss prevention world.  In the 2009 study they found that 42.7% of inventory loss was due to employee theft and 14.4% involved collusion.  Employees are teaming up with friends and family giving them the inside scoop of how things work in the retail store.  They offer tips on how to avoid security cameras and even check them out and pass merchandise through without scanning it.

An Atlanta store owner called us because he suspected a long time employee of taking cash from the register and from back office receipts.  During our investigation, it was determined that the store had also been losing merchandise at a higher that normal rate, and the cause of the shortage was unknown.  After determining some of the items (some of the items were one-of-a-kind), our investigator found evidence of an Ebay store that had the items for sale. For more CSI (Caught Stealing Incidents) go here: CSI.

The good news is this problem can be identified and stopped.  For help with your employee theft issues in Atlanta visit Loss Prevention Systems today.

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Not every background check company is equal

September 3, 2010 by

If you hire employees or take on volunteer workers you are likely conducting background checks through a background check company.  Not every background check company is equal and there are considerations to be made.

How easy is it to do business with them?  Are there any human beings who can intelligently answer questions available?  Do they offer online services?  Are the services easy to use?

What types of searches do they do?  Not all background checks are the same.  There are multiple areas to search in a criminal background check and it is not difficult to miss an issue with criminal history.  Do they offer a credit history check?  If your candidate will be handling money or valuable inventory you want to be sure they are creditworthy/ responsible.

Where do they look?  Again there are multiple databases out there that may contain information you need and going with a budget priced background check company will likely mean they are doing a minimal/ surface search and not digging into detail.

Are they looking at workers compensation claims?  There are people out there who “work the system” costing employers small fortunes in high monthly insurance costs due to false claims.

What is the company’s background? New companies pop up every day because someone has a get rich quick idea.  Look for well established companies with a positive track record.

Interested in learning more about what is available?  Contact the background check experts at Loss Prevention Systems by calling 1-770-426-0547 or visit on the web here: background check company

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