surveillance — Page 18

PROSECUTING A SHOPLIFTER – 101

August 2, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

How do I approach a shoplifting incident? This question is asked of me almost on a daily basis by store managers and owners. We always give advice and best practices on how to deter a shoplifter by using EAS devices, but what should you actually do if you are faced with a shoplifting incident that you personally witness? When should you call the police? When can you legally detain someone? While not every situation is the same, there are some basic best practices to follow. Here’s what I train my managers and can be a great starting point for you.

Establishing probable cause

Before you detain anyone for theft, you have to establish probable cause to do so. The best way to do that is to follow the LP industry’s “5 steps” to an apprehension. By following these steps, you always ensure that a detention is within the legal limits, which protects you and your store from any potential civil liability. Those steps are:

SELECTION

You need to witness the suspect select something from your display shelf/rack or peg. This lets you know that the product is yours, and that the customer did not come into the store.

DISPLAY INTENT

Displaying intent to commit a crime is a pretty big umbrella. A customer can display intent to permanently deprive you of merchandise is dozens of ways. Some of the most common are removing the item from its packaging, concealing it on their person, altering the pricing indicator, or even consuming the merchandise.

MAINTAIN POSSESSION

The most common way a shoplifter will display intent is to conceal the item on their person, or maybe in a shopping bag or purse. It’s vital that they maintain possession of your product at the point in which you detain them. You can get yourself into some legal trouble if you detain someone that doesn’t possess any stolen property, so it’s imperative that you keep constant, unbroken observation on the suspect.

FAILED TO PAY

This one is obvious. They have to not pay for the item. Pretty straightforward and simple.

EXIT THE STORE

Once you witness that shoplifter select your property, conceal it in their pants and then walk all the way up front, past the registers and out the door, you have now established probable cause to detain that individual.

There are obviously various scenarios that can throw a monkey wrench in the gears, so it’s also very important for retailers to know and understand your state laws regarding shoplifting. These can usually be very easily found by going to your Secretary of State’s website and searching for the statutes governing theft. Even though I’m well versed in my state’s laws and have been doing this job for a very long time, I still keep printed copies of the law in my bag that I carry at all times. I also encourage you to reach out to your local law enforcement agency for help. Most departments have a retail liaison or similar position that can help you to understand exactly when a crime is considered to have been committed and what they expect from you as the retailer when responding to calls at your store.

Lastly, I implore everyone to always prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. Don’t give one person a pass. Show that your store will not be a soft target and that you are committed to keeping prices low for your customers. By prosecuting each shoplifter, you’re also committing to keeping your store safe for your customers and your employees. There’s a theory in law enforcement called “broken windows”. It goes something like this:

You walk past a house or building with a few broken windows. The windows go unrepaired and that leads to other window breaking. Before long, the building is covered in graffiti and squatters may take up residence. Drug use inside proliferates and it attracts others with ill-intent. Fires could be set inside. This “moth to flame” action starts trickling down to other buildings and houses in the neighborhood and soon the area is a criminal hot bed.

While this is only a theory and is a matter of great debate in the world of criminology, it should get you thinking. If shoplifters know they can get away with stealing from you, they’ll come back. Eventually, they will get brazen enough to physically assault a store clerk that may intervene. If you’re not prosecuting these individuals, word gets out that your store is an easy mark. You may eventually get robbed and ultimately shut your doors because your customers refuse to shop at a store they feel is unsafe. You can stop this snowball effect by taking pro-active measures to prevent those from shoplifting as well as taking the necessary action to hold those accountable to the law that do take from your store.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, EAS Devices, Employee Theft, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, loss prevention, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Workshop, Periodic inventory, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

LP Personnel And Safety

July 28, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

The billions of dollars the retail industry loses every year due to shoplifting and employee theft have not decreased, but rather will likely continue to increase every year. Deaths due to shoplifting are not rare anymore. News about managers and employees getting shot while trying to stop a shoplifter is commonplace now. Training your LP staff to follow strict regulations when approaching a shoplifter should be a top priority for your business.

Read more about this topic by following the links below.

To stop a thief: Shoplifting is a daily battle for retailers

On any given day, more than $35 million worth of merchandise is stolen from retail stores across the country by shoplifters – amateurs and professionals alike – who steal clothing, jewelry, electronics and a host of other items, including food.

Some sneak quickly and quietly with the merchandise, others make bold getaway attempts.

In Tupelo, the retail and financial hub of Northeast Mississippi, the Tupelo Police Department gets hundreds of reports each year.

In 2014, TPD took 483 reports related to shoplifting, according to TPD Public Information Officer Chuck McDougald. Last year, that number fell to 260. So far this year, the department has taken 162 calls.

“Higher shopping volume days correspond to more shoplifting calls,” he said. “Those include weekends and holidays.”

As for the timing of when shoplifters are busiest, apparently they’re not early risers.

RETAIL INVENTORY SHRINKAGE INCREASED TO $45.2 BILLION IN 2015

The 2016 National Retail Security Survey, conducted in collaboration by the National Retail Federation and the University of Florida, reveals that retailers’ inventory shrink averaged 1.38 percent of retail sales, or $45.2 billion in 2015, up by $1.2 billion from 2014.

According to the report, 47 percent of retailers surveyed reported increases in overall inventory shrink in 2015, with shoplifting accounting for the greatest cause with an average loss of $377 per incident (39 percent), up nearly $60 from 2014.

Robberies continue to be a growing expense for retailers, costing an average of $8,180.17, up from $2,465. The rise in robberies in 2015 was driven by an increase in jewelry stores reporting extremely high average losses.

“With a constantly evolving retail landscape, loss prevention becomes more complex every day,” said NRF Vice President of Loss Prevention Bob Moraca. “LP professionals have been working diligently to find advancements in technology aimed at deterring crime in our industry, sometimes even before it happens – but as our techniques get more sophisticated, so too do the criminals.”

Shoplifting: Retail’s $45 Billion Problem

Retailers are struggling to keep tabs on shoplifters who are increasingly becoming their top source of loss, averaging $377 per incidence, up $60 from the year before.

At 39 percent, shoplifting was found to be the biggest contributor among factors that led to overall inventory shrinkage in 2015 causing a $45.2 billion loss across the United States, according to NRF’s 2016 National Retail Security survey. The new numbers reflect a $1.2 billion increase in losses from 2014.

The inventory shrink averaged 1.38 percent of retail sales and saw 47 percent of retailers reporting losses in 2015.

Another factor adding to inventory shrinkage was a rise in robberies that exclusively targeted jewelry stores. The average loss reported by robbed stores increased from $2,465 per incidence in 2014 to $8,180.17 last year.

“Loss prevention professionals continue to do an exceptional job at locating the issues and finding solutions to prevent additional loss in their retail stores,” said Dr. Richard Hollinger, University of Florida criminology professor and lead author of the NRSS. “It is important for retailers to continue building relationships with law enforcement and leverage new technologies that can further provide protection to their assets, customers and employees.”

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Fighting Shoplifting In Your Store

July 20, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Prevention is one of the most important aspects of loss prevention. Trained personnel with the ability to respond effectively when a crisis arises, can save lives and money to the retail store. CCTV while providing a great help to loss prevention personnel, and being used by most retailers, is often viewed as dated technology that even when used is not used properly. Trained personnel on the floor can be a powerful prevention “tool” for the loss prevention team, while providing a deterrent to the possible shoplifter entering your store.

For more about this and other topics, follow the links below.

LP101: Commitment to Loss Prevention Training & Development

As contradictory as it might sound, the stability of our loss prevention program is largely dependent on our ability to react and respond to change; and that begins with our people. The evolution of a successful and productive team is an ongoing process. Every member of our team has both personal and professional objectives and agendas, all of which will impact their approaches, their performance, their outlook and their potential.

Most managers understand the importance of getting the right players on their team, and putting those players in the right roles. We attempt to hire talented individuals, place them in positions where we feel they can be most successful, and provide them with the appropriate loss prevention training to meet the needs and expectations of the job.

Establishing and maintaining the expertise necessary to perform our required function demands that we develop the knowledge, skills, proficiencies and abilities of our team. Strong loss prevention training practices help build success. We train to cover the bases—the rules and guidelines, the fundamental competencies of the job, the essential ground rules that help to make people better at the position that they are in.

IN LOSS PREVENTION, DATA — AND YOUR GUT — IS KEY FOR DECISION MAKING

Have you ever experienced a nagging feeling before you’re about to finally make a big decision? You’ve weighed all the data, you’ve considered every angle, but something is keeping you from moving forward. Rather than ignore that nagging feeling and forge ahead, Shelley Row says we need to get to the bottom of it.

Row, an author and expert on executive decision-making, addressed a group of loss prevention professionals gathered for the NRF PROTECT Loss Prevention Conference and Expo — a group that faces difficult decisions on a daily basis, be it combating shrink, performing interrogations, investigating organized retail crime rings or responding to active shooter situations. In researching and interviewing executives about their decision-making process, Row related what she heard to neuroscience and the mechanics of how we use different parts of our brain to make different kinds of decisions.

Loss Prevention: Research Findings from Professor Martin Gill

I recently led a study looking at the future of loss prevention.

Supported by Marks and Spencer but involving representatives from loss prevention in leading retailers, the study posed questions on the scope of loss prevention work; how budgets are set and influenced and how expenditure and on going work is justified; and the perceived effectiveness of a different measures used to mitigate loss. A full copy of the report is available here.

What did the study find?

Sometimes technology is presented as an unqualified good, but this is to oversimplify the position. Sure, it offers real opportunities to better understand threats and therefore to improve the response.

But getting the right technology is tricky. There is a lot out there and determining what is best is one problem, and things change quickly; it can be difficult to keep up.

And offenders use technology too, and rather effectively, committing offences from afar. These people can be difficult to detect and even more difficult to prosecute.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Local Police and Their Communities

July 15, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

shopliftingdollarsign The amount of calls reported by Walmart stores to the local police are staggering. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Walmart stores in Tampa report an outstanding 16,800 calls in only one year and in only 4 counties. That’s 2 calls per hour, every hour, 24 hours a day. That’s your taxes working for Walmart. While the lack of police surveillance of other neighborhoods can affect those communities, Walmart monopolization of the police force should be analyze, and stopped for good.

For more about this and other stories, follow the links below.

Retail Loss Prevention and Law Enforcement – Can They Work Together?

Law enforcement and LP should work together on retail theft prevention.

For years, there have been those that have questioned whether retail loss prevention and law enforcement can effectively work in partnership with one another. For example retail loss prevention professionals have often felt frustrated that law enforcement wasn’t concerned about helping them with their business. In reality, detectives may have been focusing on other pressing crimes, such as a rash of burglaries, sexual assaults, or other crimes against people.

Consider the aftermath of a “grab and run” incident. From a law enforcement perspective, the number of people who had access to a particular area when a loss occurs may be very high, with little or no available means to identify who the perpetrators might be. Some believe that law enforcement has the ability to further clarify and zoom in on video already recorded to extract a better image.

Walmart

Thousands of police calls.

You paid the bill.

Police come to shoo away panhandlers, referee parking disputes and check on foul-mouthed teenagers.

They are called to arrest the man who drinks a 98-cent iced tea without paying and capture the customer who joyrides on a motorized shopping cart.

The calls eat up hours of officers’ time. They all start at one place:

Walmart.

Law enforcement logged nearly 16,800 calls in one year to Walmarts in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties, according to a Tampa Bay Timesanalysis. That’s two calls an hour, every hour, every day.

Local Walmarts, on average, generated four times as many calls as nearby Targets, the Times found. Many individual supercenters attracted more calls than the much larger WestShore Plaza mall.

When it comes to calling the cops, Walmart is such an outlier compared with its competitors that experts criticized the corporate giant for shifting too much of its security burden onto taxpayers. Several local law enforcement officers also emphasized that all the hours spent at Walmart cut into how often they can patrol other neighborhoods and prevent other crimes.

N.C. law enforcement, retailers to combat organized retail crime.

CORCA is aimed at bringing together local law enforcement agencies and the N.C. Retail Merchants Association to better communication retail theft that is more complex than shoplifting.

At Thursday’s press conference, the alliance leaders stressed the difference between organized retail crime and shoplifting. Organized retail crime usually involves complex schemes and is organized to convert illegally obtained merchandise or cash into financial gain by theft or fraud.

“These are criminals,” Steve Walker, the asset protection director at Walgreens, said. “They are not shoplifters.”

Raleigh Police Department Detective Scott Womack added that often these thefts are connected to drug abuse, street crime and even terrorism.

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Motivated Employees are Vigilant Employees

July 12, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

If you’re in retail management, and if you’ve been paying attention, you know your employees are the first line of defense against both internal and external fraud. Employees who are satisfied with their jobs are much more likely to care about co-worker and customer theft. They’re more vigilant and report it more often than those who are unhappy with their jobs.

And yet, most managers don’t know how to motivate others. They don’t understand that effective motivation skills need to be learned and practiced, just like other valuable management skills. Supervisors who are interested in creating a productive work environment will learn the helpful techniques.

There’s no “one size fits all” magic process – below are 5 of the most common ways people are motivated. Employees can be motivated by a combination of these approaches; none of them are better or worse than the others, they’re just different. Everyone has a preferred way of being motivated and they respond more positively to their way.

Words – People motivated by language need to hear or read words of affirmation. Link the words of appreciation to a specific task – “Thank you for being so attentive to that customer” or “I appreciate the creativity you put into that display”.

Time – The opportunity to spend time with and talk to management, one on one or in a small group, is important to these types of employees. They need a meaningful way (quality time) to interact and feel listened to.

Deeds – These are people who are motivated by actions showing appreciation or interest: actual pats on the back, getting them a cup of coffee, letting them leave early on a bad weather day, point out their favorite donut is in the box, etc. Be careful about this one, at all times be professional.

Need for Community – Employees who have a need for community want to be part of the group. They organize the softball game, Secret Santa and birthday parties. They’re motivated by being part of a team and respond to activities that support teamwork.

Monetary Rewards – Contrary to popular thought this is one of the weakest motivational tools; most people are motivated by non-monetary methods. Employees who are motivated in this manner respond to raises, sales contests, gifts tied to quotas, bonuses for performance, etc.

It’s important to note that some workers will reject positive management intervention, but they’re the minority. Most employees will respond to one or more of these techniques. Mangers that put time and effort into developing motivational skills will make their jobs, and personal relationships, easier and more rewarding.

Nicole Abbott is a professional writer who’s had over 200 articles published. She’s a business consultant and former psycho-therapist with over 20 years of experience in mental health, business and addiction. She’s a coach, lecturer, trainer and facilitator. She has conducted over 200 workshops, trainings, presentations, seminars and college classes.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, anti-thefts devices, Employee Theft, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Prevent Shoplifting, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Shoplifting; A Social Problem With No Clear Answers

June 30, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Research for many years now, have found that the best way to prevent shoplifting is through customer service. If people are greeted by the store personnel as they enter the store, they are less likely to shoplift. The retail industry’s billions of dollars lost every year due to shoplifting and employee theft, are a social problem that they have no answer to, and regardless of how much they invest in technology, the problem seems to be getting worse not better.

For more about this topic follow the links below.

Bamboozled: The job that could get you arrested

Mystery shopping gigs are real, but they’re also a common job title you’ll see when a scammer is looking for a victim.

And now, fraudsters are giving this job scam a new twist. One that could land you in jail.

But first, the real thing.

Retailers will hire “mystery shoppers” to visit their businesses — unbeknownst to the employees — for an objective look at the shopping experience. The mystery shopper will be instructed to look at specific things about a business, and then go back to the company to report his or her experiences.

Mystery shoppers are typically paid a fee for their time, and they’re also reimbursed for items that are purchased during a store visit. These amounts are often pre-approved by the company that hires the shopper.

The fakes work differently.

Crimes at Jacksonville’s big box stores last year cost taxpayers $75K

Most calls at Walmart deal with shoplifting.

ACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police officers in Jacksonville spent 3,533 hours — the equivalent of 147 days – responding to petty crimes at Walmart stores in Jacksonville last year, I-TEAM research found.

Officers spent another 667 hours working shoplifting and other minor calls at Target stores in the city.

An analysis of data from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office found 5,298 police calls to the 15 Walmart stores in Jacksonville in 2015 – five times the number of calls to the eight Target stores in the city.

The Walmart on Normandy Boulevard had the most calls: 864. Shoplifting made up half of those calls, followed by thefts, then disputes.

Police Cars Parked Along Admiral Wilson Boulevard In Effort To Prevent Crime

CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) — For weeks, marked police cars have been stationed at businesses along Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden.

Two police cars have been parked around the clock at gas stations along Admiral Wilson Boulevard. Generally, there are no officers in the cars. Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson says it’s designed to deter crime from robberies to shoplifting to graffiti.

“It’s a reminder to those that may be up to no good — whatever it may be on that spectrum of illegal activity — that we’re nearby, and that we’re watching at all times,” he said.

Thomson says the cars are part of a wider bid to work withbusiness owners to address blight and dilapidated properties in neighborhoods.

“We were seeing an increase in the amount of graffiti, trash, broken-down cars, boards falling off of abandoned buildings,” the chief said. “And considering the fact that 80,000 cars a day travel along that route — I don’t want that to negatively define our city.”

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, employee background checks, Loss Prevention Seminar, POS ROI, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

You Are Losing More Money Than You Realize

June 30, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Yep, you probably are! The shoplifter that walked out the door with your $45 item cost you MORE actual money than $45!

Many Retailers do not understand the actual impact of theft. For example:

You experience a $45 loss (shoplifting, employee theft, vendor fraud…). Is that $45 the total impact on the bottom line? Nope, you actually lost $2,250.00 in real money.

For your organization to simply recover or break even on a $45 loss, you would have to sell an additional $2,250.00 to break even! ($45.00 divided by .02% profit margin). This is on top of your normal sales.

WOW, how many more items are you going to have to order, receive, count, mark, prepare paperwork for, stock, and finally sell just to produce these extra sales? Theft/Shrinkage really cannot be recovered from because you should have had those sales to begin with.

Add to that the loss of sales because the stolen item was not available for sale to a legitimate customer.

You then begin to understand why one third of U.S. business failures are blamed on theft.

The obvious solution is to prevent the theft (we can help with that), errors and abuse that cause loss in the first place.

Loss vs. Sales

So if we assume for a moment that your company has a 2% bottom line net profit margin. Two percent is considered an overall retail normal margin. Yours may be higher/lower. The net profit is your final profit after all expenses such as payroll, payment to vendors, rent, taxes, utilities….

The chart below shows the sales required to replace losses due to theft:

AMOUNT OF LOSS 2% PROFIT MARGIN SALES

NEEDED TO REPLACE LOSSES

$100 $ 5,000

$500 $ 25,000

$ 2,500 $ 125,000

$ 5,000 $ 250,000

$ 7,500 $ 375,000

$10,000 $ 500,000

$12,500 $ 625,000

$15,000 $ 750,000

$17,500 $ 875,000

$20,000 $1,000,000

Inventory shrinkage cancels millions of dollars in sales. That means all of your hard work for an entire year can be wiped out by a single loss. Loss Prevention Systems can fix your shoplifting problems!

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, employee background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Workshop, mobile POS loss prevention, retail security and monitoring, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

HOW SHOPLIFTERS CAN DECREASE THE VALUE OF YOUR BRAND

June 30, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

I’m sure you’ve already read how shoplifters cost you money. It’s probably hard to digest the dire financial implications that shoplifters have on all of our businesses. Without adequate controls in place, you are putting your business and your financial well-being at risk, and honestly, you just can’t do that. That’s why we have to have a camera system and why EAS systems are a necessity and not just a “nice to have” technology. That’s exactly why we have to invest in exception reporting tools to help us identify criminal activity and why we preach the value of exceptional customer service in our stores.

Value. Your customers shop with you because you provide them with value. They could shop at 12 other stores and some of them might even be more competitively priced than you, but there’s something that draws them into your store. That’s the value of your brand. Retailers have a following just like any band, performer or Hollywood movie start. Believe it or not, you have fans, some of which will refuse to shop anywhere else. Ever stop to think what it is about your store that causes this? There could be several reasons, really. In my personal experience (I have a few stores that I exclusively shop at for different needs). All have a few things in common.

In stock position is number one on my list. If I am going shopping, I normally know exactly what I want. I don’t spend a lot of time browsing and normally don’t need a whole lot of help from a store employee. I simply expect that the item I want be available for me to grab and go. Having available inventory for your customer is key component to your success.

If you’re constantly targeted by shoplifters and dishonest employees, those in demand items may not always be available for your legitimate customers. How many times have you walked a customer out the door because you didn’t have the thing they were looking for, even though you do stock that particular item? More times than you care to admit, I’m sure. So not only did you lose the item to theft, you’ve lost the sale to the customer as well. If that happens enough times to enough customers, you’ll be known as the retailer that “never has what I need in stock”.

Customer engagement is another factor I consider. I don’t often ask for help, but when I do. I expect an employee to be readily accessible, close by, knowledgeable and friendly. I also want to know that the employee is aware that I am in their area and available to help should I need it. This makes me feel that my business is wanted and appreciated.

Shoplifters will target stores that they know they can operate in with impunity. Those are the stores where employees ignore customers (you know the stores I’m talking about here). If a thief knows you are not paying attention, they will rob you blind and then come back for seconds. Customer service is one of the best methods to deter a criminal.

As a retailer, you have to offer value to your customers. You definitely can’t do that if your employees don’t engage your shopper, you don’t have the item in stock and your prices are out in left field compared with your competitor. Setting yourself apart from the competition is what drives business into your store and will keep you in business. As retailers and small business owners, remember that your brand carries value. Whether it’s a positive or negative value rest solely on your shoulders and has a direct effect on how your approach shrink and external theft.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, Background checks, EAS Devices, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Seminar, prevent shrinkage, Retail Anti Theft Devices, security devices, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

HOW SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS CAN PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM CHECK FRAUD

June 30, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

You know, we talk about the thousands of ways you, the small business owner, loses money to thieves constantly. Most of that is centered on shoplifters and boosters stealing your merchandise. We talk about that for good reason… it’s one of the biggest financial impacts to your business if left unchecked. However, there are so many other ways that your business can be targeted by criminals and some of them may appear so legitimate, that you would have no idea you were a victim for weeks. In that time, the criminal is long gone and you’re left paying for that theft out of your pocket. One area of training that is often overlooked in retail is check fraud. I’ll give you some advice on how to identify this in your store and protect yourself from vulnerability.

I’ve worked in big box retail my entire adult life, mostly at a regional Loss Prevention level. The way large businesses protect themselves against phony checks is through a third party company. By using this company, the retailer in fact takes $0 loss on any fraudulent check purchases, since the 3^rd party company gives the retailer, through a quick scan on the POS, a guarantee on the check that it is accepting. That’s great for billion dollar companies that accept thousands upon thousands of checks each and every day. But what about you?

To protect yourself against counterfeit and fraudulent checks, you have to know what to look for. While technology is helping criminals create and print better looking checks, there are several tell-tale signs that you can look for to stop this from happening to you and your business.

Micro print| Take a really close look at a check if you happen to have one lying around. Pay close attention to your signature line. I bet you’ve never noticed that the line is in fact, not a line at all. It’s actually fine print. Really fine print. Often it says “micro print” or “security” and it is very difficult for a fraudster to recreate. In fact, if you try to copy the check on even a high end scanner and laser printer, it will not come out perfectly. This is absolutely, hands down one of the easiest ways to spot a fake.
Perforation| Pay special attention to perforations on the check if you suspect fraud. The vast majority of personal checks have a perforation at the top, which of course makes it easy for you to remove from your checkbook. Often, a fraudster will copy the checks on laser printers, giving the check a smooth side all around. Business checks will more often than not, have perforations along the left side, so also keep that in mind.
Single Checks| If someone is making a rather large purchase and are paying with a check, take note if that individual has just that one single check, and not an entire book. This can be a strong indicator of fraud. I mean, who just carries around one check?
Back of Check| Pay attention to the back of any check. Did you know that on the opposite side of the endorsement is a little paragraph explaining the security features of that exact check? Imagine that! Use that to your advantage and look for the features to be prevalent on the check. Most checks also have a watermark on the back of the check that is almost impossible to fake.
Out of State checks| You know your customers pretty well. If you are a local store and you have someone attempting to spend a great deal of money on high end product with a check from an out of state bank, pay close attention. I’ve dealt with this plenty of times in my career and the easiest thing to do is contact the financial institution on the check. Very often, you’ll find that the financial institution doesn’t even exist!!
Paper Quality| There are two type of phony checks. Ones that are counterfeited from scratch, and those that are actual checks that have been washed in some way. Each one will give you specific clues to the authenticity of the check itself. Washed checks will just look odd. Under the slightest of scrutiny, you should be able to notice that the check has been altered, whether it be an erased line or perhaps you may even still be able to see the original information underneath. Counterfeit checks will usually be printed on paper that’s not of the same quality as a legitimate check. It may feel a little different in your hands, or may be slightly thicker than a normal check.

Now these are just some general guidelines that should help you to identify the majority of check fraud. Since criminals are constantly evolving their tactics, there will never be an “all-inclusive” black and white guide to identifying fraud, following these few steps and using a bit of common sense can help protect your business from falling victim to a forged, counterfeit or otherwise phony check.

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Shoplifting Prevention

June 21, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

When dealing with a shoplifter, your employees are at risk of violence. Knowing the company’s policies on how to approach and deal with a shoplifter must be known by every employee in your company. A loss prevention training seminar that will help your employees or your loss prevention team deal with such situations is imperative for your business. Safety is always the most important issue when dealing with a shoplifter, and your employees should know this fact. A law suit that can cost your business millions of dollars is not something you can afford to have. Call us, we will walk you though our programs and find the one that meets your need.

For more about shoplifting news, follow the links below.

$20 million lawsuit filed against Arundel Mills security

The family of a suspected shoplifter who drowned in 2014 near Arundel Mills mall has filed a $20 million lawsuit against the shopping center’s security staff for allegedly chasing him to his death.

The family of Tavon Talley filed the lawsuit against Valor Security Services and Mydatt Services in Baltimore City Circuit Court in February. A judge has denied a motion by the defendants to transfer the case to Anne Arundel Circuit Court and allowed the dispute to move forward to trial.

As of Friday, a trial date had yet to be scheduled, according to online court records.

Reached by phone Friday afternoon, Thomas P. Bernier, the Baltimore attorney representing Valor Security and Mydatt Services, declined to comment citing the ongoing litigation.

A spokesman for Mydatt Services, Valor Security’s parent company, did not immediately return a call for comment.

According to the complaint, on July 7, 2014, Talley was at the Zumiez store, which sells skate and snowboarding equipment, when a manager came to suspect the 26-year-old of shoplifting.

Connecticut’s Facial Recognition Bill: A Model for States?

State legislators step back from a bill that would limit such technology and instead take a reasonable approach — that should serve as a model for state legislators considering regulation for other emerging technologies.

Earlier this year, the Connecticut General Assembly was considering a bill that would prohibit the use of facial recognition technology for commercial applications unless companies got prior consent from consumers to gather that information — a move that would have severely curtailed the deployment of the technology. Fortunately, state lawmakers listened to reason and revised the bill so that it now simply requires retailers to display signs indicating that their establishments use facial recognition. This type of reasonable approach to regulating new technology should serve as a model for state legislators considering regulation for other emerging technologies.

Facial recognition is a form of automated image recognition that uses computer algorithms to uniquely identify an individual in a database based on a photo. Concerned with the growing accuracy of the technology, some privacy advocates have argued that facial recognition is a threat to privacy and public anonymity and have recommended the government impose restrictions on both public– andprivate-sector uses of it.

Police: Long Island Macy’s Loss Prevention Employee Steals $69,000 In Perfume

MANHASSET, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — Police said a trusted security guard in charge of theft prevention at a Long Island Macy’s used his position to steal.

As CBS2’s Jennifer McLogan reported, Juan Adriano Infante, 21 allegedly got away with $69,000 worth of Chanel perfume.

The Morrow family, who are loyal customers at Macy’s of Manhasset, were disappointed to learn of the heist of products from Chanel – their favorite fragrance.

“He was security and he was stealing?” Ms. Morrow said.

Police and prosecutors said Infante, the loss prevention associate for Macy’s, entered the stockroom where the high-end perfume is kept in storage. Police alleged that Infante carried box after box out of a side exit – making off with 1,000 expensive bottles of perfume.

It happened after he mysteriously disabled the alarm, police said.

“He would actually call the fire alarm company; have them disengage the fire alarm. At that point, he would walk out of the store – the side exit; put these fragrances in his car,” said Nassau County police Detective Lt. Richard Lebrun.

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