Uncategorized — Page 89

By Any Other Name

April 9, 2012 by Staff Editor

We all know that William Shakespeare said that a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. Clearly Mr. Shakespeare didn’t work for a background check company. Any reputable background checks expert will tell you that when it comes to background checks and pre employment screening, not everyone with different names are roses.

I worked a rather large internal case a few years back. We flew in our corporate Loss Prevention Managers to help us out. One of the first things they did was to run a name and address verification on this employee. It was a similar protocol to what they had done when they had previously worked for a background check company.

The amount of information they could pull was staggering. It listed every place this employee had lived for the last ten years, including other occupants listed at the same address. To our surprise, this employee had been living with another one of our employees. Not only was this a clear policy violation, but it also opened up a whole new door to the investigation.

These guys really were background check experts in my book. The background check they did gave us a new employee to investigate that we may not have caught otherwise. Based on this new information, we were able to investigate and resolve close to $100,000 in losses over the previous five years they had been employed at our company. Had we done this sort of pre employment screening to begin with, the employee would not have been hired to begin with.

For more information on background check experts , background checks , criminal background checks , employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: background check company, Background checks, criminal background check, employee background checks, pre employment screening

Are You Being SMART With Me?

April 6, 2012 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Retail security is a vast ever-expanding world of tips, tricks, gadgets and gizmos. Trying to determine where to start can be a completely overwhelming task. Even though there are a zillion ways to create an anti shoplifting plan, try sticking to just one or two simple ways to begin with. Once you are comfortable with the scope, highlights and limitations of your plan it is much easier to move on to round two: execution.

When you are starting to execute, think of it like any other action plan. One of the methods we used frequently was the SMART Plan. Are you being Specific, Measurable, Actions, Realistic, and Timely?

When I train my managers, I always guide them through the SMART Plan way of thinking. All too often I would see elaborate action plans that sounded great on paper, but were far too complicated, time consuming or expensive to ever really work out.

Pick out something easy to institute into your daily routine. Anti theft devices like labels and tags are readily available and simple to use. You can also easily procure cheap labels and cheap tags to fit into your budget. It’s an all around SMART move!

Visit RBC Security Solutions for Anti-Shoplifting or Anti- theft Devices that can help you with your Retail Security needs like Cheap Labels and Cheap Tags. Our Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS Labels and Tags are not cheap they are inexpensive and made in the U.S.

For more information on how you can use Anti- theft Devices in conjunction with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system to help you prevent retail theft in your business with products like Cheap Labels and Cheap Tags contact us.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Anti-Shoplifting, Cheap Labels, Cheap Tags, retail security

Preventing Return Fraud

April 4, 2012 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Using anti-theft devices can be an effective tool to preventing return fraud in stores with return policies geared toward providing good customer service. Return fraud has been and continues to be a major problem in retail security. ORC (Organized Retail Crime) groups target merchandise that is valuable and easy to steal, which typically is merchandise lacking anti-shoplifting devices. The groups take non-tagged merchandise in order to appear legitimate when making a return of the merchandise they had previously stolen.

Return fraud, when conducted in ORC situations, will usually occur in several visits to the store. When dealing with a chain of stores, these visits may occur one after another as they travel a central interstate or highway. The first visit may only involve a subject staging merchandise in a specific and secluded area of the store. The merchandise will probably be the highest valued, easiest to conceal, non-tagged merchandise that they can find. This subject may stage the merchandise in bags prior to leaving. The second visit will consist of the concealment and/or theft of the merchandise that was previously staged for them. This visit will probably take no longer than five minutes in the store and is difficult to detect. The third visit is where the fraudulent return takes place where the subject will return the merchandise that was previously stolen. These visits will often consist of several different subjects, and all three steps may happen simultaneously with several sets of merchandise. The easiest way to combat return fraud is to protect your merchandise with anti-theft devices.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Anti-Shoplifting, Cheap Labels, Cheap Tags, retail security

Be Prepared, They Are

April 2, 2012 by Staff Editor

Every shoplifter that has ever walked into a store with the intention of stealing has probably had a dry run in their mind of how it’s going to go down. They have systematically thought through what they want to take, from what type of clothing to size quantity and possibly even color. They know about where in the store the items are located. They also know how they are going to get out, and whether they are using the merchandise for personal use or if it will be a resale (pawn, e-bay, etc).

Clothing security should have the same amount of thoughtfulness put into it from your end. If a criminal is going to make an attempt at your store, you should make it as difficult as possible for them to succeed. With the right clothing security in place, you may even prevent the thieves from ever stepping foot in your establishment.

The usage of clothing security tags alongside a clothing alarm has statistically been proven as a reliable form of clothing security. Countless retailers from a variety of sales and geographical demographics have proven their reduction of shrink is directly tied to the installation of a clothing alarm and security tags on clothes.

Don’t let the criminal mind get the best of you. Plan and prepare security tags on clothes to give the criminals a run for their money instead of yours.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Checkpoint tags, clothing alarm, Clothing Security, clothing security tags, security tags on clothes

Lead the Horse to Water…Now Drink!!!

April 2, 2012 by Staff Editor

Small businesses number one killer is employee theft. Most cases of internal schemes can reach 100k in loss. The problem is their larger counterparts invest money for loss prevention services. The small business owners many times are unwilling to invest in such things as background checks. Having a pre employment screening process quite honestly is probably the best investment a small business owner could make. Merely perusing a resume and calling a few previous employers who will only verify the fact that they worked at that place of business. As a loss prevention consultant I have seen the ravages internal theft can cause. Usually when trying to sort out the “who what where and why” the first thing I can point to is the fact that no criminal background checks or employee background checks were being conducted.

One particular case which stands out from the past is a female small business owner who ran a flower shop. She never gave loss prevention a thought let alone contacting a background check company to inquire about pre employment screening. Her thoughts regarding loss prevention never made it past having a lock on the door and keeping the register drawer shut. She had contacted me due to the fact that each month she was coming up short on both money and stock and that after checking for clerical errors she could not find the problem. When I sat down with her I asked her about her employees and how she felt about employee theft. She was very adamant that her employees were very trustworthy and her friends and that thought process was out of the question. I knew this was going to be a long a painful road for both of us. I decided to contact a couple of background check experts to bring them in to discuss their past cases to give very detailed examples of how employee theft can utterly destroy a small business.

It was a truly enlightening experience for the business owner to see how a lack of background checks could impact a business in such a negative way. It did not take long for her to retain the background check company and discuss with the background check experts the most feasible criminal background checks as well as employee background checks.

The implementation of the pre employment screening process was tedious however the business owner s very happy with the results. She runs a very successful business to which she attributes the achievements to her very strong and now vetted staff.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: background check company, Background checks, criminal background check, employee background checks, pre employment screening

How to stop employee theft on a satellite property

April 2, 2012 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

This doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone company out there, but if your store or company possesses an employee run satellite property like a warehouse or shipping site you may want to give this a read.

Catching employee theft in your immediate vicinity is tough enough as it is. If you give said employees a building all to themselves with nothing but product and time they will figure out a way to fleece you good. Even if you implement standard methods of catching internal theft like installing cameras or making random inventory counts they will still find some way to get around it.

My store in particular has an off-site warehouse which is manned for eight hours out of the day by two members of the stock team. It is a dull post and the warehouse is filled to the rafters with expensive product ranging from appliances to overstock clothing. After a few reports of large quantities of items going missing my team conducted a full inventory of the property and found the stock levels were all wrong in comparison to what was in the system. We tried reviewing the tapes from the warehouse cameras but came up with nothing. Instead we used a more ‘old fashioned’ employee theft investigation to uncover the truth.

With an agreement from a nearby fast-food restaurant we established a rotation of stake-outs. It is just as it sounds. A member of my team, armed with a pad and a long zoom camera would sit in the parking lot across from the warehouse and watch it.

It took only two days of this to catch someone in the act. It amounted to was a massive internal theft case that resulted in the prosecution of three employees because of their parts in the matter. Sometimes it takes a more traditional approach to employee theft investigation to get results.

For more information on employee theft, employee theft investigation or internal contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: employee theft, employee theft investigation, internal theft

Some thieves are just brazen

April 2, 2012 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

So you think that just because you have every piece of inventory tagged with RF labels or Checkpoint security tags that you are absolutely protected from shoplifters? I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if some scumbag professional thief wants to steal from you, they will, and they might not even try to conceal their efforts.

As an example, on the second floor of my store there is only one entrance/exit, not including access points from elevators or escalators. Along the walls of said entrance are walls of product, on one side clearance items and the other side high-end children’s clothing. For two weekends in a row, the staff working that floor discovered a particular section of the high-end product suddenly emptied out of everything. This prompted us to mandate that any product being placed in that section be affixed with a Checkpoint security tag, regardless of whether it was within guidelines. The next weekend a man was spotted by a store employee coming into the store with a large shopping bag, going directly to that previously hit corner, and loading the bag with everything he could get his hands on. In less than twenty seconds he had cleaned out the section and made for the door when the employee tried to call out to him, which prompted him to run.

We still haven’t caught him on camera and there is literally only twenty feet separating his target section with the doorway. It has required us to think outside the box. Applying RF labels or security tags only helps when the shoplifters are worried about getting noticed. This particular guy doesn’t seem to care.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint labels, Checkpoint security tags, and other RF labels that can help you stop shoplifting with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system in your business.

For more information on Checkpoint labels, Checkpoint security tags, RF labels, RF security labels, RF security tags and how they work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system to stop shoplifting contact us at RF label or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Checkpoint labels, Checkpoint security tags, RF label, RF labels, RF security labels, RF security tags, stop shoplifting

Keep them shopping

April 2, 2012 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Why is retail security so important to running a successful business? Anti theft devices are often seen as a time consuming hindrance and bad PR instead of a valuable tool. The number one reason is customer satisfaction.

It may seem like customers would be more likely to use the ignorance is bliss mantra when they shop. If there is no apparent sign of retail security, then they should assume they are perfectly safe, right? Not necessarily. If you do not have any visible theft in your store, it could really just be a matter of time before you become a target for shoplifters.

Shoppers want to feel safe when they shop. A relaxed shopper will take their time and walk the aisles seeing what you have to sell. They are more likely to try on several items in a fitting room instead of just one. They are also in a better mood. That makes it easier on you and your staff to increase your ticket average and decrease your customer complaints.

A customer that does not feel safe will not do any of those things. If they even decide to buy anything, it will be quick and to the point. Don’t allow petty criminals to scare off your good business.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Anti-Shoplifting, Cheap Labels, Cheap Tags, retail security

Preventing shoplifting vs. Stopping a shoplifter

April 2, 2012 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

When most people think about store security they think that their job is to catch shoplifters. But in reality a better way to safeguard retail store merchandise is to Prevent shoplifting. Retail anti theft devices are one way to prevent shoplifting, but there are other methods that can be addressed to help in this matter.

Obviously store security will apprehend suspect shoplifter when they are caught in the act of shoplifting. But as a business owner you also want to have a way to deter shoplifters from even attempting to shoplift. Retail anti theft devices come in various forms to deter theft such a placing RF security tags, RF security labels on clothing and other hi value items or keeping hi value items under lock and key.

But one of the most valuable anti theft weapon that a business has is the staff. Training your staff properly on methods to prevent shoplifting is one of the best ways when combining it with retail anti theft devices can deter theft. Most shoplifters do not want to enter a store that has observant and a staff very skilled in customer service. If a shoplifter sees that the staff is very observant in the department and approaches them seeking to help them. They aren’t able to remove the retail anti theft devices from the merchandise. So the shoplifter would rather leave empty handed than take a chance of being apprehended.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store for retail anti theft devices that can help you prevent shoplifting in your business.

For more information on how you can use retail anti theft devices to prevent shoplifting contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Prevent Shoplifting, Retail Anti Theft Devices

Old fashioned methods that still work

March 30, 2012 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

I have heard a lot of stories involving internal theft. Some of them are immensely far-fetched while others are so crazy they have to be true. This story is part of the latter bunch.

A colleague of mine was having an issue with video games going missing in his store. He had a camera in the area where they were kept but it was a still and had no way of being repositioned to a better locale so he tried everything from maintaining a physical LP presence there to rigging up dummy cameras to possibly scare of his mysterious thief. His big break in the case came one night while doing a check of the stock rooms. He found plastic wrappers and security cases for some video games stashed beneath a shelf in a store-room used for house wares. With the new knowledge that it was a case of internal theft he now had to think of who it was and how he could catch the in the act.

Unfortunately the store-room provided no place to put a covert camera, nor did he have any solid leads as to who the culprit was. Eventually he came up with an idea to apprehend the suspect that was so insane that he didn’t tell anyone else what method he was using.

Using a large cardboard box, one normally containing a do-it-yourself cabinet, he cut out a few discreet holes so he could sit in it and see outside it into the room around him. He sat in the box for six shifts straight until his internal theft case came to a close when the suspect, a guy on his receiving team, showed up in the stock room, games in hand, and started opening them. My colleague was so excited he leapt out of the box scaring the thief half to death in the process.

It may not have been the most practical employee theft investigation, but it worked.

For more information on employee theft , employee theft investigation or internal contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: employee theft, employee theft investigation, internal theft