Stop Employee Theft

Not all internal theft is merchandise…

Staff Writer — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

When it comes to employee theft there is nothing more irritating, more troublesome, than the theft of supplies. Many employees do it; some deliberately, some accidentally, but it is so commonplace it is almost universally accepted as a simple fact of life regardless of the business. The problem with it being so ‘accepted’ is that it is almost always disregarded and usually goes completely unpunished. It is that kind of mentality that forces companies to waste millions of dollars on supplies.

Not only is there the waste factor, but there is the inherent frustration aspect of your business being short, or completely out of, a supply when it really needs it. I can recall numerous instances where pens, paper towels, cleaning supplies, and even toilet paper has suddenly gone missing only to be discovered later that another employee had pilfered an obscene amount for their personal use.

A recent incident involved our warehouse becoming short on the store supplies of paper towels and water jugs for the water coolers. At first it was just once in a while, but eventually entire stockpiles were going missing within days of shipments coming in. After a lengthy stake-out and employee theft investigation we found that a ten-year veteran of the company had been moving large amounts of supplies to his vehicle over the course of his shifts at the beginning of each week and stockpiling them at his personal residence. When it was acknowledged as a case of employee theft and he was brought in for an interview he denied any wrongdoing even when confronted with hard video evidence. Eventually he admitted that he had been stealing supplies for years but claimed that he shouldn’t be punished since ‘everyone did it’.

Don’t allow your employees to think ANY kind of internal theft is okay. Send them a message that stealing is wrong even if everyone does it.

For more information on employee theft, employee theft investigation or internal theft contact us or call 1.866.914.2567 – Atlanta Georgia

Employee Theft And Proper Employee Theft Investigations

Staff Writer — Mon, 07 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

An unfortunate reality of the retail business is that internal theft will occur. By some estimates, internal theft accounts for over half of all loses across the retail sector. Many companies are well equipped with teams of investigators to deal with employee theft. For many smaller retailers this investment is not a reality. Fortunately, there are companies out there are available for employee theft investigations.

These companies can provide your business with a thorough and conclusive employee theft investigation. The process used is standard across the retail industry. It has been developed and honed to produce consistent and measureable results. When internal theft occurs, it is most often discovered after the fact. This is why it is important to have a well-trained investigator complete the employee theft investigation. The investigation should produce key information. The first being who is responsible and the second being how the internal theft occurred. These two pieces are invaluable to have when investigating employee theft.

These two pieces of investigative information are essential in developing a strategy for the interrogation/interview of the subject causing the employee theft. It is during this phase of the employee theft investigation that it is discovered why the employee theft has occurred. This is an important part of the overall process, as it allows the owner to discover what areas of their business are lacking. Finally, at the end of the interview, the investigator can elicit information as to who else is involved in internal theft. This gives the owner a greater return on their investment. This is a proven process that is used by the industry leaders in the retail to investigate employee theft and internal theft.

For more information on employee theft , employee theft investigation or internal contact us or call 1.866.914.2567 – Atlanta Georgia

Discipline Breeds Morale

Staff Writer — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Companies have spent countless hours developing and executing policies and procedures for their stores. Protocol for every possible situation has been written down time and time again in countless employee handbooks. The thought is that discipline breeds morale.

When there is a tangible standard on how all employees are to conduct themselves and their business, it is easier to enforce those policies. When someone steps out of line, the rest of the work force knows there will be consequences for those actions. They also know that the terms of those consequences will be equal regardless of who violated a policy.

Years ago I worked for a company whose policies and procedures were lacking. Most operating procedures were made up as we went along, often reactionary to an issue that had happened. One such incident was a shortage in a cash register.

This employee theft investigation started when a random drawer audit was completed on a rarely used register till. I received a call stating we were almost $200 dollars short. When I started to ask questions, I realized that we had set ourselves up for failure.

The till was in a remote corner of the store. Even though the register was rarely used, we had been keeping a cash bank of $200 dollars in it. No one ever thought to pull the money out. No one every thought to do a daily drawer audit. Clearly it was an employee theft situation. The problem was tracking down who had figured out our lack of controls.

We didn’t even know where in the last three months to begin our employee theft investigation. It had been that long since the register had last been used for a cash transaction. Needless to say, the money was gone for good. This was a case where the employee theft got the best of us.

If we had clear procedures in place, the drawer would never have been unaccounted for. Even if someone did get the cash, we could have had a better chance of tracking them through a shorter window of time.

For more information on employee theft , employee theft investigation or internal contact us or call 1.866.914.2567 – Atlanta Georgia

The money is where the merchandise is

Staff Writer — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Often I find that my team is focusing too much of their time and efforts on employee theft investigations into things like fraudulent discounts and other types of abuse at point of sale and they forget about the biggest kind of loss, merchandise theft. Don’t get me wrong, discount abuse and other fraudulent activity are important to identify and resolve. They can also be easy to find through some dedicated research, and the hard evidence is usually right there in front of you. This can lead to some solid cases and after a rigorous interview process it can frequently lead to admissions of merchandise theft, cash theft, and other dishonest activity as well. But what about those people who are only taking merchandise?

We catch an enormous amount of shoplifters in contrast to the few internal theft cases that we identify each year. Comparing the amount of time that a shoplifter spends in our building versus the time an average employee spends in our building, the employee has far greater opportunity to steal than the shoplifter does. While we are talking about time, how much of our time do we spend on cameras watching for employee theft opposed to the time we spend hunting for shoplifters? I know for us the difference is huge. So the question begs, how many more internal theft cases could we identify if we focused a little more of our time and surveillance on our employees. Recent surveys have found that 48% of losses are contributed to employee theft, and it has steadily been on the rise since 2008 surveys which contributed about 44% of losses to employee theft. The numbers are staggering. It makes me think we should probably be focusing a little more time and energy on our employee theft investigations.

For more information on employee theft , employee theft investigation or internal theft contact us or call 1.866.914.2567 – Atlanta Georgia

How to stop employee theft on a satellite property

Staff Writer — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:00:00 +0000

This doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone company out there, but if your store or company possesses an employee run satellite property like a warehouse or shipping site you may want to give this a read.

Catching employee theft in your immediate vicinity is tough enough as it is. If you give said employees a building all to themselves with nothing but product and time they will figure out a way to fleece you good. Even if you implement standard methods of catching internal theft like installing cameras or making random inventory counts they will still find some way to get around it.

My store in particular has an off-site warehouse which is manned for eight hours out of the day by two members of the stock team. It is a dull post and the warehouse is filled to the rafters with expensive product ranging from appliances to overstock clothing. After a few reports of large quantities of items going missing my team conducted a full inventory of the property and found the stock levels were all wrong in comparison to what was in the system. We tried reviewing the tapes from the warehouse cameras but came up with nothing. Instead we used a more ‘old fashioned’ employee theft investigation to uncover the truth.

With an agreement from a nearby fast-food restaurant we established a rotation of stake-outs. It is just as it sounds. A member of my team, armed with a pad and a long zoom camera would sit in the parking lot across from the warehouse and watch it.

It took only two days of this to catch someone in the act. It amounted to was a massive internal theft case that resulted in the prosecution of three employees because of their parts in the matter. Sometimes it takes a more traditional approach to employee theft investigation to get results.

For more information on employee theft, employee theft investigation or internal contact us or call 1.866.914.2567 – Atlanta Georgia

Old fashioned methods that still work

Staff Writer — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 10:00:00 +0000

I have heard a lot of stories involving internal theft. Some of them are immensely far-fetched while others are so crazy they have to be true. This story is part of the latter bunch.

A colleague of mine was having an issue with video games going missing in his store. He had a camera in the area where they were kept but it was a still and had no way of being repositioned to a better locale so he tried everything from maintaining a physical LP presence there to rigging up dummy cameras to possibly scare of his mysterious thief. His big break in the case came one night while doing a check of the stock rooms. He found plastic wrappers and security cases for some video games stashed beneath a shelf in a store-room used for house wares. With the new knowledge that it was a case of internal theft he now had to think of who it was and how he could catch the in the act.

Unfortunately the store-room provided no place to put a covert camera, nor did he have any solid leads as to who the culprit was. Eventually he came up with an idea to apprehend the suspect that was so insane that he didn’t tell anyone else what method he was using.

Using a large cardboard box, one normally containing a do-it-yourself cabinet, he cut out a few discreet holes so he could sit in it and see outside it into the room around him. He sat in the box for six shifts straight until his internal theft case came to a close when the suspect, a guy on his receiving team, showed up in the stock room, games in hand, and started opening them. My colleague was so excited he leapt out of the box scaring the thief half to death in the process.

It may not have been the most practical employee theft investigation, but it worked.

For more information on employee theft , employee theft investigation or internal contact us or call 1.866.914.2567 – Atlanta Georgia

Employee Theft Investigation Strategies: End of Shift Observation

Staff Writer — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Another tactic commonly used to spur employee theft investigations is to complete end of shift observations. While sporadic observation of an employee throughout their shift is recommended, it is not until the final minutes before the employee’s break, lunch or shift end that they will typically conduct employee theft activity and conceal the merchandise that they are after.

I was observing an employee during the middle of her shift when a typical lunch break would occur. The employee walked to the break room and punched out. She then took her jacket and purse and headed out of the store. On her way out she stopped in a department and bent down several times, which appeared to be very suspicious of internal theft. The employee then walked out of the building and to her car. I observed her emptying several items into her car before returning to the store, and once I checked the car I could see through the windows that there were several items in the vehicle that appeared to be from our store. After that I decided to observe the subject for the rest of the day. She didn’t conduct any other employee theft during the bulk of her shift, however she did occasionally place merchandise in a fairly secluded area of the store that did not belong there. When it was time for her to go, just as she had before, the employee punched out and grabbed her things. As she was walking through the store the employee stepped into the department where she had previously placed merchandise and bent down several times. After she left the building I found that the merchandise she had staged was missing. On her next shift we interviewed the employee. She admitted to the internal theft and we got a full confession including much more merchandise than what we had observed being taken.

For more information on employee theft , employee theft investigation or internal contact us or call 1.866.914.2567 – Atlanta Georgia

Discount Abuse: Not Just a Policy Violation

Staff Writer — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:00:00 +0000

When people hear that a coworker was discharged for theft, it’s immediately assumed that that person was stealing money or was caught sneaking unpaid goods out of the store. But employee theft can take on many forms and doesn’t just refer to an associate taking merchandise or slipping themselves cash from the register. In fact, one of the most prevalent ways that a staff member can cause a loss to their employer isn’t even viewed by most associates as a form of internal theft; they assume it’s a policy violation addressed by Human Resources. This often overlooked form of shrinkage is known as discount abuse.

Although most corporations and employers outline their policies for newly hired associates, most of them don’t remember the rules they’re expected to abide by. They may have been advised that sharing their discount with unauthorized family members and friends is considered a form of employee theft, but unless they work in loss prevention, chances are this won’t be a fact that they’ll concern themselves with. On the other hand, they may just assume they can’t get caught for it. While employed as an agent for one retailer, an associate’s brother come up to her while she was talking to my boss and me and he handed her a pair of shoes he picked out and money to buy them with while we were standing right there! Needless to say, I don’t think she forgot our company’s policy after that.

Although discount abuse cases aren’t as exciting to investigate as a merchandise theft situation, this form of internal theft has the potential to cost employers to miss out on profits. I’ve been asked many times by family members and friends to share the benefit of working for a clothing retailer with them. None of them have been pleased to hear that I can’t share the perks because I can’t commit any form of employee theft if I’m expected to catch my coworkers for it!

For more information on employee theft, employee theft investigation, or internal theft contact us or call 1.866.914.2567 – Atlanta Georgia

Employee Theft Investigation Strategies: Baiting

Staff Writer — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:00:00 +0000

There are many tactics that investigators will use to topple an employee theft investigation into fruition. One of those employee theft investigation tactics is called baiting. Baiting is a great technique to identify internal theft that is occurring in your building while controlling where the theft occurs. Typically baiting will be used after finding empty packages or other evidence of internal theft that is taking place in a stockroom or other employee only area. The premise of the strategy is to stage desirable merchandise in a location that can be remotely monitored.

The first step is to identify a dark corner or location that would feel safe for employee theft to take place. The location should have low traffic and feel secluded and safe from onlookers. There should not be any visible cameras in the vicinity. Once you have identified the perfect location, install a covert camera that can clearly see the site.

Now that you have a covertly monitored location, place one or two items in the site that are in clear view of the covert camera. The items placed in the location should be merchandise that would be desirable and easy to conceal. Small items such as fragrance, video games, sunglasses, etc. are all good possible options. It is also recommended to identify which types of empty packages and tags are being found in the employee only areas of your building and use similar merchandise. Record the UPC and item description in order to track the staged merchandise.

After baiting the covert camera it is important to monitor the area frequently for activity. Once the merchandise is discovered to be missing you can review video to identify the disposition of the items. Your merchandise will have either been returned to its proper location by an honest employee, or you will have identified the person responsible for the employee theft occurring in your building.

For more information on employee theft , employee theft investigation or internal contact us or call 1.866.914.2567 – Atlanta Georgia

Coupons and Internal Theft

Staff Writer — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:00:00 +0000

By now we have all heard of extreme couponing. It is where consumers go into a store with binders full of coupons and try to get out of the register by paying little to no money at all for items.

Overall, it’s really not a bad idea. Everyone wants to save a buck, and manufacturers are making it easier than ever before to get coupons. You can find them in newspapers, on line and off of social media sites. Who would think that it could ever lead to an employee theft investigation?

The key to proper couponing is to know your companies policies and to read the coupon’s restrictions. If a coupon says it can only be used for one item, employees shouldn’t take four coupons for that one item. If it says the customer has to buy two items, do the math, they must buy two.

In a recent employee theft investigation my employees were taking it a step further. They would take a coupon for an item with a big dollar off. They would then buy that item. Actually, what they did, was to buy a trial size of that item, which was against the coupons restrictions. Hence becoming internal theft.

They would then cash out the difference for the dollar amount, thus making money. A few ways this was costing us:

Coupons do not have a value. No one should make money off of it.
Because the coupon was used incorrectly, the vendors were not paying us back for the coupon.
The shelves were now empty of these items. Causing customer complaints and a lack of sales.

Long story short, coupons- good. Employee theft- bad.

Take some time to make sure your employees are aware of the correct and incorrect coupon policies. Or else you might end up with some employee theft. You might just save yourself the trouble of an employee theft investigation.

For more information on employee theft , employee theft investigation or internal contact us or call 1.866.914.2567 – Atlanta Georgia