The reason employee theft is so dangerous to a company is because of its’ snowballing effect. Think about it, if you saw the same customer come into the store everyday and hang out in the same department you’d become instantly suspicious of them, right? Well, that’s exactly what your average employee does, however we assume that they’re there to simply do a job so we think nothing else of it. The truth is their position gives them unquestioned regular access to both your money and your merchandise. In essence, your business is in their hands.

Employee theft is like a drug. The first time an employee decides to take from the company they’re usually scared and apprehensive. They’re shaking like a leaf; beads of sweat form on their brow and they’ll probably talk themselves out of their first few attempts. After the first time though it becomes easier and easier to conceal merchandise or dip into the register. Before you know it that same individual who looked like a frightened child the first time is a regular retail John Dillinger, and just like Dillinger he’ll eventually recruit a gang.

Some thieves are smart and keep their wrong-doing to themselves. Most like to brag. Once the bragging starts the snowballing will too. Other associates will begin looking for ways to get away with either cash or merchandise and now you have multiple people taking multiple things at multiple times of the day. Your employee theft is out of control! What’s the solution? Stop the snowball before it starts. When the other employees see that first individual get taken away in handcuffs all of a sudden employee theft doesn’t seem like the great idea it once did.

For more information about internal theft or employee theft investigation or corporate fraud investigation or corporate fraud investigator contact us at Employee Theft or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

A funny thing happened on my way to an internal theft . A company that I worked for was seeing unusually high losses in their Electronics department. Upon reviewing the footage and seeing the type of merchandise that was frequently going missing we determined that external theft, or shoplifting, was probably not the culprit. See, most of the missing merchandise stayed locked up in a back closet of the Electronics department just so average customers wouldn’t have access to it. Therefore it became obvious that it must be an inside job.

I entered the store in the middle of the night and installed a covert camera in the back closet of the Electronics department. I figured that whoever was committing the internal theft would continue doing so and with video footage of the deed it would be incredibly easy to build a case. What I didn’t realize is that there was a lot more going on in that back closet than I had anticipated. On a quiet Sunday afternoon I received a phone call from one of my detectives who snickered uncontrollably as he asked me how to handle the situation.

It seems that a couple of Electronics associates had been using that back closet as a rendezvous spot and were currently involved in acts that would make a madam blush. I called the manager of the department and had him conveniently walk in on them. (Since the lovebirds weren’t my initial target I didn’t want to alert anyone to the presence of a covert camera). The couple was terminated for unprofessional conduct and time theft and about a week later the actual thief was caught red handed with over $500 worth of MP3 players stuck down his pants. 3 for the price of 1 is always a good deal, especially when you’re talking about internal theft .

For more information about employee theft or employee theft investigation or corporate fraud investigation or corporate fraud investigator contact us at Internal Theft or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

The best way to prevent internal theft within your organization is to inform your employees about your internal security measures. Furthermore, make sure they understand that if caught stealing you will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. The fact is that most employees steal simply because they think they can easily get away with it. Let it be known that they will probably be caught and definitely have to pay the price for their wrong-doing once caught and you’ll limit the number of thieves within you building.

Here are a few tips on how cash controls can help you prevent internal theft and send a message to your employees: Limit the amount of cash in a register and do frequent safe drops throughout the day. There’s nothing more tempting than a mound of cash sitting in front of you. Take away that temptation. Put one employee in charge of setting up cash drawers and put another one in charge of double checking it. Never put one person in charge of all of your money, again the temptation is too high. Issue one drawer to each cashier. Nobody else should be allowed to ring on this drawer. This sends the message that ‘whatever happens to this drawer is your responsibility’.

You should require that every register be closed after each transaction and a register should never be left unlocked when not attended. This will eliminate the claim that another employee rang in a sale when they were on break, at lunch, etc. All over-rings or under-rings should be signed off by a manager and the signature of all managers should be kept on file to prevent possible forgeries. These steps send the message that you’re serious about controlling your money and keeping employees honest. Use them and you’re guaranteed to limit the amount of internal theft you experience.

For more information about employee theft or corporate fraud investigator or corporate fraud investigation or employee theft investigation contact us at Internal Theft or call 1.770.426.0547 we are located in the Atlanta Georgia area

Previously we discussed signs that an employee may exhibit to clue you in to possible internal theft. Now, I wanted to tell you about some other signs to look for from others that may let you know you have a potential problem. It’s estimated that $52 billion a year is lost due to internal theft so it may be beneficial for you to know and understand what to look for and how to stop a costly problem before it starts. Customers are a great source of information. They may not always be right as the old adage says, but they’re always worth listening to.

If you get constant customer complaints about shortages or substitutions in their orders you should begin to become suspicious. Frequent refunds (especially of the same kinds of merchandise) by one employee should send up a red flag. Sometimes a customer may see something on your sales floor but not want to get involved at that point. So be aware of any anonymous phone calls or letters you may receive explaining an illegal or immoral act. It’s easy to dismiss these as pranks, but I caution you to give them the proper weight and investigate them thoroughly.

In today’s business climate you’re always looking for an edge so you probably encourage your employees to build a relationship with potential customers. However, beware that this can become a slippery slope. Watch for any employee that seems a little too close to the customers and always be weary of a customer that comes in and demands to only deal with a certain associate. There are many different signs to look for that may clue you in to wrong-doing inside your business. Internal theft is a big problem in business today, but it’s one that can be managed if you pay attention to the signs and act accordingly.

For more information about employee theft or employee theft investigation or corporate fraud investigation or corporate fraud investigator contact us at Internal Theft or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

Loss Prevention Systems Corporate Fraud investigator s have conducted thousands of employee theft investigation s for all types of companies. Large companies with experienced senior staff and the smallest of companies that are less than 5 employees. One problem that we consistently see with all of them is when the client contacts us. Most of the time it is late in the process. It is not an issue for us but it normally does cost the client more. Because we generally have to start over with much of the investigation.

Most people including some of the most savvy business people I have ever met are like a fish out of water in these situations. Because of this they do not know how to build a proper corporate fraud investigation . And because we all watch CSI they try to be their own corporate fraud investigator. It is not like what we see on TV, far from it.

Our job is to build a corporate fraud investigation that will prevail with civil and criminal courts and serve to effectively block unemployment claim if the client so desires. Most company executives are frustrated in these situations because they are missing a key business element that they must have to make their every day business decisions. That is control. They do not know what to do. We provide and therefore restore that sense of and actual control.

But why not just call the police or FBI? They have a staff of professional investigators. They have the skills. Of course they do. But as anyone in my field knows the chances of getting law enforcement to do this type of employee theft investigation is like playing the lottery. It isn’t that they do not want to or do not have the skill. The fact is that there is so many investigations assigned to them they cannot actually work one to the extent necessary to get the investigation where it need to go. The average police detective in the U.S. is assigned 40 +/- investigations in a thirty-day period. They are civil servants and work a 40-hour workweek. How many of those 40 investigations do you really think get worked?

On the other side we at LPSI assign one corporate fraud investigator to an investigation. They work on it from start to finish and that time frame is short depending on the case. Even complicated ones. Most of the delays we experience is the client trying to catch up with us.

SO when should you call? Save yourself some money and call right away before you start firing people, calling the police and defiantly before the losses and investigation becomes water cooler gossip.

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

The average employee thief steals $1,876 per incident compared to the average shoplifter who steals on average $226 per incident. Why is this? Most retailers are shocked when thy see these numbers some are even in denial. The words ring out “my employees wouldn’t do that to ME”. Oh yes they would and do!

I have personally conducted over 2300 investigations of employees involved in employee theft . They do steal and will steal anything they see as of value to them. This could be paper, pens or other office supplies for their kid’s school work (that’s not so bad…is it?) to your merchandise, cash and time.

Employees steal, including some of yours, sorry but that is just fact.

Oh man that is depressing now what do you do? Well, first off keep in mind I am not saying all employees. But at an average theft of $1,876 how many bad ones can you afford?

The solution begins with better management and controls. Remember those famous words of President Regan “trust but verify”. You must verify employee’s work as a routine. Look into a little here and a little there. Employees should believe that you look at everything. Keep them guessing.

But keep in mind you will still have people that will try to steal and some will succeed in employee theft . What do you do when you suspect employee theft ? The old school and macho approach is to investigate it yourself. Have you ever heard the analogy “a person who acts as their own attorney in court has a fool for a client”?

Another failed method is to just fire them. In that case you should first ask your self several questions: Who taught them to do this and is that person still employed here? How much have they really stolen from me? You would be shocked in most of these answers. Are you trained to look for employee theft ?

Get professional help. OK, yes that is what we do. But we are VERY good at it. However, more importantly you can waste your time and money doing it yourself and get poor results because it is not what you do for a living. Or we can fix the current employee theft problem and put you back into the drivers seat then help you to correct the situation so it does not occur that way again.

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

Statistics from Global Retail Theft Barometer 2010

Internal theft is the biggest factor when talking about inventory shrinkage. Employees around the globe cause the greatest loss to retailers. Yet, to this day, there are still managers and business owners that don’t believe their employees are stealing from them.

Recently, a window company, which has been in business for 31 years, had been operating in the red. For the last 10 years, they had been experiencing inventory shrinkage and loss. This is a small business run by a husband wife and two close friends. The friend, a bookkeeper, reported the poor sales weekly to the main owner. Worried about his business, he decided to bring in consultants to help with his losses. It was all or nothing. The consultants recommended to the owners the need for a thorough employee theft investigation and review the possibility of internal theft .

Insulted, the manager refused and stopped business with the consultants. Internal theft was not a problem at his company, and there was no need for an employee theft investigation as this was a small company and no one was stealing from him. He believes his losses were because of the downturn in the economy. Weeks passed and the poor performance continued. The managers got together talked about the possibilities of closing the business. As a result of the inventory shrinkage and poor sales performance, the team knew this could be it.

Later, the husband and wife team hired a corporate fraud investigator. The corporate fraud investigator spent a week going thru the inventory results, conducting forensic accounting, speaking with employees. The corporate fraud investigator found the answer, but knew the owners were not going to like it.

The corporate fraud investigator went to the home of the business owners, specifically, the husband and wife. He explained to them what he had done over the last week and his results. It wasn’t good and employee theft was definitely the cause. The bookkeeper of 20 years had been pocketing cash for 10 years, totaling over $1 million.

Do you really want to wait until employee theft gets to this level before you take action?

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