These signals will reveal employee theft or internal theft

· Shifting turnover to cheaper products or services by which means the number of sales remains the same but the average sale drops.
· Unexplainably high expenditure patters of one or more members of staff.
· Discovery of offers of your own assortment on notice boards in supermarkets and other places with only a telephone number, whether or not the number of a member of staff. In particular, mobile phone numbers deserve attention.
· Personnel who are always the first to own the newest, dearest and most trendy articles without having purchased this from staff sales.
· Personnel who rebuild their home with materials that the employer sells, without having made use of staff sales.
· The borrowing of company products or tools without proper registration whereby the borrowing may become permanent.
· The lending of goods to employees with a lending ticket without checking that the ticket is not used to take goods every day.
· Personnel wearing clothing made by the employer without having made use of staff sales.
· Unexplainable rises in breakages or losses.
· Higher turnover of items that fall under the heading ‘useful for home’.
· Keeping storage places untidy and dirty despite repeated instructions to make them clean and tidy.
· Employees who voluntarily take upon themselves unpopular tasks such as taking out the rubbish, cleaning after working hours, etc..
· Employees who noticeably frequently find an excuse to “just pop out for a minute” and often carry goods outside.
· Regularly discovering empty packing boxes in the stores in between full boxes, or discovering packing materials in other places.

By now you understand that you must be actively involved when preventing internal theft or employee theft . Prevention is the key. Do not be afraid to look into these situations. That in itself is a prevention technique. Do not wait until it is out of control to have an employee theft investigation conducted. An employee theft investigation is then done if prevention efforts are not successful.

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

These signals can reveal employee theft or internal theft 

· A further point to the two previous points is that the till display is often turned away from the customer or hidden behind advertising material.
· Cashing up at the end of the day shows multiple till openings without demonstrable reason.
· On checking an X or Y till roll, often a 0 strike or the amount of a carrier bag or some other minimal amount can be seen. This may indicate the intention to open the till between sales.
· Between sales openings of a till usually take place at particular times such as coffee, lunch or tea breaks or at times when there are no other people around.
· Surplus cash often indicates the temporary impossibility for the fraudster to take cash that has not been rung up.
· An abnormally high need to change money, or withdrawing more money than is really changed, often has the intention of creaming off the fraudulently created surplus cash.
· A strong rise by one salesperson of the number of sales (increase in bonus) as against their colleagues can mean the sales of extra guarantees or maintenance contracts without the client being aware of it.
· Clients wrongly reporting to the rear door of the premises.
· Storage of stocks at temporary locations, often near the exit or on top of lowered ceilings, for example in toilets.
· Rear doors or side doors which, against the rules, are often found unlocked.

Keep in mind that internal theft and employee theft will never stop on its own. Most employees that steal will only get more comfortable with their theft. An employee theft investigation must be conducted to stop the bleeding. Simply firing the employee will not solve the problem. Where did they learn it? Who else is stealing? Keep in mind that an employee theft investigation is generally a very quick process (usually a day or two). Also employees that are involved in internal theft or employee theft associate with others that do the same.

Watch for more parts to come in future blogs!

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

Here is another employee theft investigation that Loss Prevention Systems conducted for a client. An employee theft investigation is usually very quick. We specialize in this area and can solve most of these situations to your company’s satisfaction. Of course the names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Confidential

Internal Theft Investigative Case Report

On September 24th, an employee theft investigation was initiated by Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) at the request of Mr. X, Director of Operations.

Mr. X stated that S. Jones, Head Cashier, had suspected of beening involved in the theft of merchandise.

During an interview with Jones, she admitted to the theft of $990 in merchandise and $1,500 in cash from the store.  Jones stated that she stole merchandise by only ringing up part of a sale when friends would come into the store.  Jones stole cash by doing fraudulent returns and pocketing the money.  Jones incorporated her admissions into a written and signed statement.

During an interview with Suzy Young, Cashier, Young admitted to the theft of $5,400 in merchandise and $3,035 in cash from the store.  Young stated that she stole merchandise by only partially ringing up a sale for friends when they were coming into the store.  Young stated that in collusion with Jones she would steal cash by doing fraudulent returns.  Young incorporated her admissions into a written and signed statement.

During an interview with Debbie Dummy, Cashier, Dummy admitted to the theft of $163 in merchandise. Dummy stated she would steal items of interest to her such as xxxxx by simply walking out of the store without paying for them.  On several occasions she gave small merchandise items to friends in exchange for cash, which she pocketed.  Dummy incorporated her admissions into a written and signed statement.

During an interview with Mary Not-so-bright, Cashier, Not-so-bright admitted to the theft of $200 in merchandise from the store.  Not-so-bright stated that in collusion with Young, she gave away merchandise to friends by only ringing up part of the merchandise and giving the balance away.  Not-so-bright also stated that she stole several items for herself.  Not-so-bright incorporated her admissions into a written and signed statement.

During an interview with David Johnson, Assistant Manager, Johnson stated that he had been removing large quantities of merchandise from both the xxx and xxx stores.  Johnson said that he would ring the merchandise up using the training mode on the register, and then deliver the merchandise to a (client) customer. Johnson would give this customer a 30 percent discount. The customer in turn would then write a check, which Johnson would ring into the register anywhere from 1 to 7 days later.  During the interview Johnson produced one of the checks.  However, the check listed Johnson as the payee. Harris incorporated his admissions into a written and signed statement.

All information and investigative facts developed during this investigation were turned over to Mr X, Director of Operations.

Notes: Routinely our employee theft investigation work turns up more evidence of internal theft by other employees. It is like grabbing a thread and pulling, the cloth unravels.  This employee theft investigation took approximately 2 days to complete including the report.

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

 

When Loss Prevention Systems does an internal theft investigation we produce a report at the conclusion. Most of our investigations only take a day or so to conduct. Here is one from a recent investigation. The names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Confidential

Investigative Case Report

On January 18, an internal theft investigation was initiated by Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) at the request of Mr. X, Executive Vice President.

Mr. X stated that David Jones (not his real name), Stock Clerk, had made unauthorized changes in the POS security functions.  It was established that Jones had accessed the POS system and given himself authorization to process voids, refunds and other management level functions.  Mr. X terminated Jones for his actions. Investigation by LPSI did not show any suspicious transactions related to these unauthorized management level functions.

During an interview with Jones, he admitted to the theft of $2,250 in merchandise and $480 in cash from the store.  Jones stated that he stole merchandise by simply walking out the door with it or putting it outside the backdoor and picking it up later. Jones stole cash by doing fraudulent discounts on merchandise for friends and ex-employees.  No evidence could be found involving fraudulent refunds or voids.

It was learned during the investigation that Jones is on probation in (a Georgia ) County for employee theft from a previous employer. Jones incorporated his admissions into a written and signed statement.

All information and investigative facts developed during this internal theft investigation were turned over to Mr. X. Additionally, law enforcement officers will be contacted and criminal charges will be filed. A copy of this file will be forwarded to Legal Counsel.

Notes: This internal theft investigation could have been easily prevented. The problem started with loose controls, which allowed an employee thief to give himself access to the company’s computer and POS systems. In addition a stock clerk was given access to exit the rear of the store without management be present.

A background check would have brought the previous criminal conviction for employee theft to light when he applied for work with our client.

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