Tell-Tale Behaviors

Employee theft accounts for the majority of shortage in any store, as they have more access to the company’s assets than a shoplifter. Just like shoplifters show tells, associates can display them, too. Sudden changes in an associate’s behavior should warrant suspicion of internal theft. Someone who seems overtly friendly, complains about their financial situation or that they are underpaid or an associate that has friends and family visit the store often, are some things that wave a red flag.

As an LP professional, I encountered an associate who frequently complained to fellow coworkers that he was unhappy at home and couldn’t make ends meet. He told everyone who would listen. Then, this same associate came into work with a high-end set of $200 headphones and a new MP3 player one day. He continued to complain about his financial situation. Within the same week of his first shopping spree, he came in with a designer belt which he gloated about, showing everyone the receipt in which he paid $400 cash.

This information triggered my awareness and I decided to begin an employee theft investigation on him. We posted a covert CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) camera above the register in the department he normally worked in. After a few weeks of surveillance, we caught the associate red-handed stealing cash from the register. When questioned about the theft, he admitted that he made duplicate receipts for customers who were paying with large amounts of cash. He used those receipts to void the transactions later at his register and pocketed the money at the end of his shift.

Being observant of associate behaviors may lead to a case of employee theft and having a reliable CCTV system in your store can play an integral role in conducting an employee theft investigation.

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

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