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

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

· Your exclusive products are being offered for sale at locations not on your client list and at strongly reduced prices.
· Regular clients complain about unfair competition.
· Personnel are sounded out about the receiving of gifts and are asked about exchange trade.
· Customers only want to be served by one particular salesperson and say they will come back later if that person is not available.
· Customers only want to be served by one particular salesperson and wait until that person is free if they are engaged with another client.
· Signals of meetings between drivers/transporters en route on parking places and back roads where goods can be transferred.
· Unknown transporters or representatives appear on the premises without appointment or a demonstrable reason to talk to staff.
· No, or inadequate, regulation of staff purchases.
· Seemingly returned goods credited and then put through as a staff purchase against reduced price. This ensures a correct balance of stock and cash.
· An unexplainable rise in staff purchases suggests trade or fraud with credit bookings.
· Making no use of staff purchases can indicate that a person has no interest in the goods but may indicate theft.
· Multiple uses of staff purchases, including using a colleague’s name, may indicate own trade and false competition.
· An unexplainable rise in stock differences in certain attractive product groups, either very desirable, dear or small, or a combination of these traits.

Many times several of these signals are seen in one employee. One item by itself may not be employee theft but a mistake. Look for one or more in a person. Remember, employee theft or internal theft should always cause you to have an employee theft investigation conducted . Do not bury your head in the sand, intern 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” 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

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

1. Demonstrable shortages without administrative accounting, often described, for ease, as shrinkage.
2. Internal or external checks show stock differences or procedural errors.
3. Anonymous reports to management that may be from the home front, personnel or others.
4. Considerable shortages relating to certain personnel for which they may have taken the initiative or been asked for favours by others in exchange for reductions.
5. A sale of goods by certain sales persons need not lead to a till receipt.
6. Easy exchange, without a receipt, is possible.
7. Clients exchange or return goods with receipts or invoices that are unknown to the company.
8. The discovery of unknown (part used) receipts books near a sales point or in delivery vans. The carbon copy may be missing.
9. Repairs carried out by some employees on the basis of  “Oh, just give me …”
10. Self-loading by customers without any control at the exit.
11. Personnel arrange ‘special offers’ and make customers aware of them, unasked.
12. Personnel deliver ‘special offers’ to customers at home after working hours. Cash payment is demanded.
13. Personnel carry out repairs or installations for clients at home without invoice or receipt.
14. Goods are brought in for repair according to an agreement or guarantee when these goods, according to the administration, do not appear to have been sold by the company.
15. Goods for which the customer shows an unknown receipt or invoice are brought in for repair.
16. Deliver of goods at unusual times.

Many times several of these signals are seen in one employee. One item by itself may not be internal theft but a mistake. Look for one or more in a person. Remember, internal theft or employee theft should always prompt 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 afraid to have an employee theft investigation conducted because it will “offend” 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 internal theft or employee theft contact us at employee theft investigation or call 1.770.426.0547 Atlanta Georgia

When interviewing retailers experiencing inventory losses I am not surprised anymore how quickly they dismiss employee theft as a possible issue.  Not surprised because it is almost universally met with the response “I trust my people they have been with me for a long time” or “we have a family business here”.  In fact they often seem pretty defensive and sometimes mildly offended that I would bring up internal theft as a possibility.

Year after year the number one source of retail loss is via employee theft as measured by multiple neutral organizations that are tracking a wide variety of retailers across the nation.  In fact it is found to account for close to half of all inventory losses on retail businesses.

To properly catch employee theft you should be sure you have good procedures in place that are checked by multiple people.  There should be more than one person responsible for any task related to inventory. Having systems in place will raise questions when anything unusual happens.

You should also be sure to have a good camera system in place that records activity in your store.  This is a major resource for proving  internal theft and many other issues like false slip and fall claims.  A good system will deliver face recognition.  How many times have you seen the news show a blurred out figure caught “on tape” in a robbery?  Quality only costs a little bit more.

The best way to solve an employee theft issue is to rely on those who are trained in the area.  Loss prevention professionals are trained on interviewing and conducting an employee theft investigation .  Using these professionals also separates you from the process and protects you from potentially damaging relationships with good employees.

For more info visit employee theft.