How to Successfully Solve White Collar Crime

August 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment

To successfully solve  white collar crime is just like anything else.  Let’s look at it this way, to fail all you have to do is one thing wrong, to succeed you have to do everything right.

White collar crime is often referred to as  corporate fraud.  Here is an excerpt from the FBI website regarding the issue: “The majority of  corporate fraud cases pursued by the FBI involve accounting schemes designed to deceive investors, auditors, and analysts about the true financial condition of a corporation.”

This problem is getting worse in America due to the increasing pressures felt by the bad economy. Business leaders are bilking their employers out of billions of dollars every year.  This obviously makes its way into the cost of doping business and then the cost of everything.

So how do you solve the issue if you suspect you area victim?

#1 Do not act on your own. Acting too soon will most likely blow your case.

#2 You have to be patient.  You must build a case which will involve collecting evidence. This may take several weeks once you have a team in place, which leads to #3.

#3 You must get help.  To build a case that wins you will need outside help.  Attorneys, Certified Forensic Accountants and professional investigators/ interrogators.

This may all sound expensive and laborious; however, if you follow a successful system you will not only get to the truth, have everything you need to get a criminal conviction if you decide to go that route and you will quite possibly get your money back.  Not following a system will guarantee you will not get the truth or your money and maybe not even be able to prosecute.

The leadership at Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. has solved thousands of cases, prevented and recovered millions in losses and has a 100% conviction rate when taken to that level. To discover what they can do for your  white collar crime issue visit them here.

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CCTV In Retail Theft Deterrence

August 12, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Many retailers have a false sense of security when installing CCTV to deter retail theft. A CCTV system is a powerful tool, but like other tools in the war against theft it has limitations. Many retailers come to believe that once they have installed a CCTV system that their retail theft will drop and they do not have to do anything further. That belief may actually cost them more money.

Here’s how. CCTV systems are passive in nature. They record 24/7 but normally they are not actively watched. Certainly a small business owner may have a monitor in their office and glance at it throughout the day. But unless something is brought to their attention that is the extent of it. You may even have a monitor that a cashier can see. But really how much time does that cashier spend observing? Probably very little, especially after the newness has worn off.

 

So what is the solution? First you must set your expectations correctly. CCTV can be used to deter, stop and catch several types of retail theft including: employee theft, shoplifting and vendor fraud. Keeping in mind that CCTV is a PASIVE system you must remember that everyone else knows this also including employees, shoplifters and vendors. They know that you are not actively watching and that in most cases it is used to look back at an incident. They know that you do not have the payroll budget to actively watch. They will also test this to see if you are watching.

I will present the solutions to each of these in the tomorrow’s blog.

More info?  retail theft or call 1.770.426.0547

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Retailers use security tags on clothes to boost profits

August 12, 2010 by

The use of security tags on clothes will boost net profit margins by as much as 10%.  It is simple math.  The less product that is lost to theft, the less the cost of those losses effect bottom line profits.  This may be the most efficient way for retailers to make more money without having to sell more product.

In today’s challenging economy, raising prices to make up for lost profits just doesn’t make sense.  The demand is lower and prices are falling due to large retailers buying power driving the market.

3 out of 6 of the top retail theft targets according to the National Retail Security Survey are clothing segments: women’s, men’s and children’s. So as a clothing retailer,keeping what you have on the racks and shelves through the use of  security tags on clothes will reduce your losses AND increase your profits.

Security tags on clothes are an instant visual deterrent to would be shoplifters and can only be removed with a specific device at the cash register.  Checkpoint Security Systems offers clothing tags in a variety of shapes and sizes both in “hard tag” or “soft tag” varieties.

Checkpoint hard tags are a plastic type of material held on to the clothing with  a pin or a steel string.  Checkpoint soft tags are stickers, called labels with a very aggressive adhesive.  Theses checkpoint labels are applied to the product’s packaging, hidden in the product somewhere or even sewn in place totally out of sight.

Click here to learn more about security tags on clothes 

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4 Tips before you hire a Loss Prevention Investigator

August 12, 2010 by

There are some things to consider before you hire a  loss prevention investigator.

#1. What is their training?  If their training is completely on the job, they may have one or a narrow view of how to handle loss prevention.  The ideal  loss prevention investigator will have real world on the job training, preferably several years with more than one retailer, as well as secondary education/ professional training.

#2.  Are they a licensed investigator?  Hiring a licensed investigator is not only common sense, but hiring one that is not licensed means they are breaking the law.  Additionally if taken to court, it will get thrown out with a non-licensed investigator building the case.

#3. Ask to see case files. A solid  loss prevention investigator is going to have this resource available in volumes.  It is very easy to look bigger than you are in the world of the Internet.  Get proof.

#4 Get references.  Third party testimonies are a great way to help guide the decision to hire a professional.  You will learn about demeanor, style, efficiency, professionalism and get a feel for how confident their clients are in their abilities.

Bonus tip. Leave the investigation up to the professionals.  Calling the police without a well developed case or acting hastily can eliminate your chance of learning the truth or ever recovering any damages.

For more info visit here:  loss prevention investigator

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More On Retail Shrinkage, Shoplifting

August 12, 2010 by Leave a Comment

If shoplifting accounts as the second biggest retail loss area how do you combat it?

Training, Training and still more Training. If you are not training your employees how to prevent shoplifting you will never, ever succeed as a retailer. The key is the type of training. Do not put the main focus on apprehending the shoplifter.

Although this is important prevention is more profitable and will reduce retail loss in this area.

This prevention training involves the actual approach to a suspected shoplifter. It is easy and can be entertaining as you drive the shoplifter crazy and send them down the street to your competitor who is doing nothing but watching their profits walk out the door. The approach is simple and varied by each situation. Every store employee must be trained in this method, which should be made a job duty. Do this and you will decrease your shoplifting losses. You do not need to be a loss prevention or security expert to approach a suspected shoplifter.

Loss Prevention Systems has shoplifting training programs that are proven and effective. Don’t be the guy down the street that is watching their profits drain away.

Want more? Contact us at retail loss or call 1.770.426.0547

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Employee Theft Investigation

August 12, 2010 by Leave a Comment

An employee theft investigation should be conducted whenever employee theft is suspected. We have seen many business owners that hesitate or simply bury their head in the sand and pretend that theft is not occurring or will go away. Over the years the University of Florida study routinely shows that employee theft accounts for approximately 48% of business losses.

The fact is that if left unchecked employee theft will escalate. If the employee got away with it the first time they will continue to steal. Those who do not attack the issue normally will not prosper. We have even seen businesses tolerate employee theft because they do not want to lose an “important or trusted” employee. That begs the question how important or trusted is that person who is stealing? Leaving this person in place is business suicide.  We have recently conducting an employee theft investigation of a person who has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars and was not terminated because the business owner was afraid to let this “important” person go.

No one is that important to a business that employee theft should be ignored. An employee theft investigation is normally a fast simple investigation. Go to the police? No, most law enforcement agencies do not have the expertise or time to do a proper investigation. Use an experienced LP Investigator.

More information on employee theft investigation contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

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A Loss Prevention Agent Can Solve Your Riddle and Protect The Innocent

August 11, 2010 by

The following two scenarios are pretty good clues you should seriously consider talking to a professional loss prevention agent.

Scenario one: You are a retail business owner who has a suspicion that you have an employee who is stealing from you, but you can’t quite put your finger on it the specifics.

Scenario two: There have been small amounts of cash missing, the register doesn’t always balance at the end of the day, or that item of merchandise you were sure you had yesterday can’t be located today, and there is no record of its being sold.

You may be asking yourself the following questions:

How do you find confirm you have a case of employee theft and how do you determine the how serious it is?

Is now the time to confront the suspect employee or to launch a full blown internal investigation to find the source of you suspicions?

Will a confrontation cause the guilty employee to stop his actions before you are able to prove involvement and have a chance at restitution?

In order to alleviate internal theft properly, certain steps must be taken by a qualified loss prevention agent.  These trained professionals will protect any innocent employees from feeling suspect and to protect you from any liability.

This is the time to contact an experienced loss prevention consultant who has the skills and experience to quickly get to the bottom of your problem and to find out the depth of employee involvement using highly developed investigative analytics and interview skills and to bring the situation to a successful conclusion.

For further information on what a Loss Prevention Agent can do for your situation, visit here.

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New Pa. law combats organized retail theft

August 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment


Organized  retail theft  is on the rise and reaching alarming levels

Description:

Sophisticated organized crime rings steal $1 billion a year from Pennsylvania stores alone.

Public Comment

New laws are being proposed and passed all around the nation to help reduce retail theft by making penalties more severe.  This video touches on the fastest growing segment of loss for retailers, organized retail theft.

Source: YouTube

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What is involved in installing a clothing alarm?

August 11, 2010 by

What is involved in the installation of a clothing alarm?  Well first we should review what the components are.

The primary compnents are antennas at entry and exit points, inside the store.  They are usually about a foot and a half front to back, 5 feet tall or so and a couple inches thick.

These antennas will pick up tags that are either, hard tags or labels.  Checkpoint security systems (pictured above) uses a radio frequency technology.  The tags vibrate at a specific frequency that is picked up by the antennas when they get in range.  This will set off the alarm notifying everyone there is an issue with merchandise heading out the door.

Go to Checkpoint  security tags to learn more about both hard tags and labels.

The Checkpoint tags that are hard tags are removable with a special device that is attached at the cash register.  The labels are deactivated when processed through checkout via an under counter deactivation pad.  Unlike other systems that require direct contact of product rubbing on the deactivation pad, Checkpoint Security Systems tags will deactivate within a 12 to 17″ field above the counter.  This is because it is not a magnetic system.  Magnetic systems are the older technology which can damage credit cards and cell phones.

Installing a  clothing alarm will deter would be shoplifters from entering your store and they will simply move on to another location that is unprotected.

Visit Loss Prevention Systems to learn more.

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Loss Prevention Security Efforts

August 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment

 

 

Who’s minding the store when the owner/manager isn’t?  A growing number of concerned management leaders depend on mystery shoppers as part of a comprehensive  loss prevention security program.

 

What information will be gained from a mystery shopper’s report?  Most users of a shopping service look first at the customer service category to learn the perception of their clientele has of their business.  Does the customer feel they have received enough attention and are more than their minimum needs being fulfilled by the staff?

 

But shopping reports can go beyond that and be important to the  loss prevention security  area as well.

 

A customer who is promptly greeted is not as likely to shoplift if eye contact has been made by an associate, making them feel that they have been noticed.  Frequent attention to each customer also lessens the likelihood of theft.  Attention not only deters theft, it also makes the legitimate customer feel more appreciated.

 

A trained shopper will also notice transactions occurring at the register and note any irregularities.  Shops may be general in nature or target specific employees, and controlled purchases, or correct change transactions may be conducted ensure the transaction was recorded properly.

 

Many business owners have a false sense of security in believing that all employees behave as if the owner or manager were looking over their shoulders while they work, and this is hardly ever the case.  A well planned mystery shopping program can improve the   loss prevention security  program of almost any retail business.

 

For information go to:   loss prevention security 

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