Organized Retail Crime

Teamwork

This activity really isn't new, but it is getting more and more prevalent. The story below is from Pheonix, AZ, but it could just as easily have been in your home town. Everywhere, thieves are banding together in an effort to confuse store personnel and become almost invisible to the stores' surveillance equipment. They will sometimes come into a store in groups of up to 10, other times, it could be as few as 2. But shoplifters who work alone are the exception, and not the rule, these days.

Refund Fraud

One tactic that these rings is using is refund fraud. One group will shoplift the merchandise, and then later, another person or group will return the merchandise for a store credit, which is then used to purchase more merchandise that the thieves will attempt to return for cash since they now have a receipt. Other tactics are to sell the credits for half of their value, or to just use the credits to purchase merchandise to sell, for which they now have a sales receipt, which protects them from being accused of selling stolen property.

The Bigger Fish

The groups referred to above are often very organized and efficient in their efforts, but there's a bigger, much more sinister threat out there. There are huge, nationwide networks of retail thieves who are working for folks who are making perhaps millions from this crime. These guys could be the mafia of the 21st century. Yet, you really don't hear or see much about this in the news.

The Common Sense

If retailers would put aside their concerns about proprietary or competitive information ONLY when related to theft issues in their stores, and a real effort to share information about thieves, both internal and external, would be pursued by the majority of major retailers; we should see a reduction in the impact these thieves have on our bottom line. We should be posting pictures, case particulars, investigative reports and findings, etc. on a central database accessible by verified retail loss prevention professionals so that we can all pull this information and work together, along with state and local law enforcement agencies, to shut these operations down. It's been tried, but there just doesn't seem to be enough interest on the parts of the retailers to keep it rolling.
If we would all work together, we would all be more profitable in the end. If we would all put more pressure on local District Attorneys to prosecute these idiots and stop making deals, we would have less of them to deal with. I'm not suggesting that retailers share trade secrets here. What I am suggesting is that loss prevention professionals get it together and stop being so competitive and learn to network more with the folks at other retailers who are having the same problems catching and prosecuting the little fish so that we can help law enforcement get to the bigger fish.

Police fight 'organized shoplifting' across Valley - ABC15.com: Phoenix, Arizona News, Weather, Radar, Breaking News, Traffic and Web Cams

In what is being called "organized shoplifting", law enforcement officers say it appears thieves are teaming up in an effort to steal items from big name stores equipped with high-tech surveillance.

The Great Escape

The Setup:
After a somewhat brief investigation, I find myself sitting across from an employee whom I strongly suspect is involved in a fraud scheme where he purchases items using his employee discount, then a relative returns said items without a receipt for full price, thus making a profit. I have exception reports and notes in hand, and I introduce myself and briefly explain what I do, and that I need to speak to the employee about an issue that I believe he is involved in.

The Interview:
Without going into too much detail, let me say that this interview was one of my most interesting. This guy claims absolutely no knowledge of any wrong-doing, and states that the relatives were working without his knowledge. He even suggests that I should prosecute them for fraud. One of the relatives is his wife...

The Break:
After a while, I decide to break briefly to collect my notes and thoughts. So, I ask the employee to write a statement for me about what we had spoken about so far. He agrees, and I exit the room, leaving the employee with my witness. I make a quick call to partner with a colleague since I seem to have hit a brick wall with this guy; something I am definitely not accustomed to. This is the second, in hundreds of interviews, where I have been convinced by evidence and behavior that someone was guilty, yet I could not get them to admit to me in the first part of the interview.

The Great Escape:
Next thing I know, my witness comes into the office where I am standing and says, "He just ran out the door." That's right, my employee didn't write a word. Instead, he simply gets up, opens the office door, and literally runs from the store, gets into his car, and drives away.

Conclusion:
Now, I know that people can get nervous when talking to a loss prevention interviewer, but this was just ridiculous. I mean, we were talking about a couple hundred bucks, and a policy violation that would have resulted in, at most, a termination and some restitution. But no, this guy forces me to file a police report for fraud, which takes me the better part of my day. I can't wait until "Cool Hand Luke" gets that visit... What an idiot.

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