Retailers assume loss from a variety of sources. Generally speaking, internal theft (AKA employee theft) accounts for the majority of loss incurred by major retailers. When we talk about shoplifters we find that ORC or Organized Retail Crime networks account for the bulk of our external losses. So what happens when the ORC rings and employees team up?
The answer is the store will be closing soon unless something is done. Employee theft and ORC on their own can kill a store, but the combination of the two is devastating. Something that I have been finding more often when conducting ORC investigations is that they are using an “inside man” (or woman) in order to help them get away with their crime. The employee can be useful in many ways. On the surface they can alert the shoplifters when LP or management is not around. I remember working at one store and it always seemed that within an hour of me leaving the store would call and say they had a grab and run. It became obvious that they were being tipped off by someone inside.
Other ways that employees can assist ORC groups is by stealing themselves and/or manipulating inventory systems to cover the losses that are going on. They can also alter prices so that their counterparts pay pennies on the dollar for product and then they can resell them at much higher rates. Whatever method they use, the employees in our stores can cause a lot of damage. They only way to prevent this is to use a routine employee theft investigation to rout out the bad apples. An employee theft investigation can be aimed at a specific employee or can be a wide net cast to see if red flags pop up in the store. Either way, internal theft and ORC can ruin a business if left unchecked.
For more information on internal theft, employee theft investigation or employee theft contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
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