Signals that indicate employee theft – Part 3 – Atlanta Georgia

Signals that indicate possible internal theft or employee theft with goods or money

· There is talk of an uncontrolled stream of goods between branches (inter-branch traffic). The argument of the dispatch workers is that these are rush orders that will be administratively processed later.
· An unexplainable rise in returned goods or credit notes, often coupled with the handwriting of a certain employee, or concerning a certain attractive product.
· No check on the actual return of goods.
· Insufficient administrative safeguards or system to control returned goods. · Returns recorded on several staff numbers while only 1 or 2 employees were present at the time.
· An unexplainable rise of the number of cancelled receipts or mistaken till entries. Also the salesperson  suddenly makes multiple mistakes whilst ringing up an amount.
· A rise in cash differences or returns coupled to the presence of a certain employee.
· A rise in the number of  ‘off till’ sales of products with which the client will probably not return such as upgrade tickets, rolls of film, passport photos, batteries, lens cleaner, etc.. The consequence is an increasing shortage in these sectors. The salesperson reckons that the buyer will not ask for a receipt. If the customer does ask for a receipt, striking the ‘total’ key produces a receipt. A signal of this way of acting is the increasing quantity of cancelled receipts and the opening of the till by means of striking the ‘nil’ key or ringing up a small amount with the aim of creaming of the surplus money.
· Returning goods several times with the same receipt with the help of the salesperson, the ‘income’ to be shared.
· Cash differences in exclusively round figures.
· No cash differences.
· Only negative cash differences, often in round figures.
· Cash surpluses always in round figures.
· Off till sales, usually in amounts of $9.95, $14.95, $24.95 or such amounts. Often there is a store of $0.05 pieces near the till to use as change without using the till.
· An emphatic signal of the fraud detailed under 43 is that the till draw is often not closed but frequently found to be ajar.

Many times several of these signals are seen in a single employee. One item by itself may not be internal theft but a error. Look for one or more in an employee. Remember, internal theft or employee theft should always cause you to begin an employee theft investigation . Do not bury your head in the sand, employee theft will not go away on its own. It WILL get worse. Many times employers are resistant to have an employee theft investigation preformed because it will “offend” your good employees. What offends good employees is to see unchecked theft going on around them.

Watch for more parts to come in future blogs!

For more information about employee theft or internal theft contact us at employee theft investigation or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia