With Halloween right around the corner, we see the plethora of Halloween themed clothing and merchandise start to infiltrate our stores. From witches to black cats, even ghosts and goblins, my stores always seem to find the scariest thing around- the Phantom Clothing Alarm!
The phantom clothing alarm is an EAS alarm that seems to activate all on its own. There never seems to be a plausible reason why it goes off. It was like that when the employees came in at the beginning of the day, or it was working earlier, and something must have happened when they were on their breaks.
Indeed, the phantom alarm has a spooky life all on its own, which is why I seem to be the one they call on to figure out what is going on. I don’t remember ghost buster as part of my job description, but somehow I have a knack for stopping these phantom alarms from haunting my employees and customers.
Obviously stores do not experience routine hauntings that affect only the clothing alarm system. That means there is a more logical, physical reason as to why the alarm is being activated without customers or merchandise present. That reason is usually a hidden EAS or clothing security tag in the area.
A hidden EAS tag usually has nothing to do with shoplifting. These are not tags that have been discarded by a shoplifter on their way out the door. That would be counterintuitive to a shoplifter trying to make their way out of a store without drawing attention to themselves.
These tags are often still on merchandise. One of the more common reasons for a phantom alarm is that there was a remerchandising initiative at some point over night. When clothing racks and tables are moved around, the are often moved too close to the EAS towers, without anyone realizing it. As the merchandise (containing EAS tags) is put back on these tables and racks, the EAS alarms go off. Putting the product back is one of the last steps, and happens around the time the day shift is coming in. As the employees come and go for the day, it is generally much later that someone realizes the alarm is going off.
Luckily, this is a simple fix. By moving tables and racks away from the towers, the alarms should subside. There is no need to retune the towers or shorten the fields around them. Often the remerchandised fixtures only need to be moved back maybe 6 to 8 inches or so, depending upon how close to the EAS towers they were originally staged.
Another common cause of phantom alarms is that a tag was thrown into a trashcan by the EAS towers. It is not unheard of for a customer to want to wear a new clothing item out of the store. Once paid for, the customers will tear the tags off, and leave them in a trashcan on their way out of the store. Soft clothing security tags that are imbedded in these price tags will then set of the alarm, since the tag was scanned at purchase, but not deactivated.
Upon closer inspection, probably 99% of these unexplained phantom alarms are explained by having an EAS tag in the area. Sometimes it just takes a little more looking to find the culprit.
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint Tags, a Clothing Alarm, Clothing Security or Clothing Security Tags to put Security Tags on Clothes and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.
For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547
With Halloween right around the corner, we see the plethora of Halloween themed clothing and merchandise start to infiltrate our stores. From witches to black cats, even ghosts and goblins, my stores always seem to find the scariest things around- the Phantom Clothing Alarm!
The phantom clothing alarm is an EAS alarm that seems to activate all on its own. There never seems to be a plausible reason why it goes off. It was like that when the employees came in at the beginning of the day, or it was working earlier, and something must have happened when they were on their breaks.
Indeed, the phantom alarm has a spooky life all on its own, which is why I seem to be the one they call on to figure out what is going on. I don’t remember ghost buster as part of my job description, but somehow I have a knack for stopping these phantom alarms from haunting my employees and customers.
Obviously stores do not experience routine hauntings that affect only the clothing alarm system. That means there is a more logical, physical reason as to why the alarm is being activated without customers or merchandise present. That reason is usually a hidden EAS or clothing security tag in the area.
A hidden EAS tag usually has nothing to do with shoplifting. These are not tags that have been discarded by a shoplifter on their way out the door. That would be counterintuitive to a shoplifter trying to make their way out of a store without drawing attention to themselves.
These tags are often still on merchandise. One of the more common reasons for a phantom alarm is that there was a remerchandising initiative at some point over night. When clothing racks and tables are moved around, the are often moved too close to the EAS towers, without anyone realizing it. As the merchandise (containing EAS tags) is put back on these tables and racks, the EAS alarms go off. Putting the product back is one of the last steps, and happens around the time the day shift is coming in. As the employees come and go for the day, it is generally much later that someone realizes the alarm is going off.
Luckily, this is a simple fix. By moving tables and racks away from the towers, the alarms should subside. There is no need to retune the towers or shorten the fields around them. Often the remerchandised fixtures only need to be moved back maybe 6 to 8 inches or so, depending upon how close to the EAS towers they were originally staged.
Another common cause of phantom alarms is that a tag was thrown into a trashcan by the EAS towers. It is not unheard of for a customer to want to wear a new clothing item out of the store. Once paid for, the customers will tear the tags off, and leave them in a trashcan on their way out of the store. Soft clothing security tags that are imbedded in these price tags will then set of the alarm, since the tag was scanned at purchase, but not deactivated.
Upon closer inspection, probably 99% of these unexplained phantom alarms are explained by having an EAS tag in the area. Sometimes it just takes a little more looking to find the culprit.
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint Tags, a Clothing Alarm, Clothing Security or Clothing Security Tags to put Security Tags on Clothes and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.
For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547
After several months of investigating a completely unrelated incident of employee theft, we decided that we should do an informal investigation of the rest of our employees. We had been loosing inventory at an alarming rate and needed to make sure we had caught all of the culprits.
During these investigations, we noticed that one of our bottle service waitresses was taking an unusually high number of drinks from her tables. We do not allow our employees to drink on the clock, but do offer them leeway if the take a drink or a shot glass from a customer to avoid offending the customers. The policy is that the employees are to take the drinks back to the bar and dispose of them down the drain.
This particular employee was taking drinks and shots, not back to the bar, but out on the floor. We started to notice that the employee was selling the drinks (for cash) to other patrons. Hmm. Well she wasn’t causing a loss to our nightclub, but she definitely had no right to sell off another customer’s purchased liquor.
We watched her carefully for a few weeks to see how frequently this occurred. It was frequent enough that we could see she was making an extra several hundred dollars each week from these under the table drinks. We knew it was time to put an end to this employee’s deceit, and her employment with our nightclub.
We sat her down at the end of the night and asked her a few questions about what was going on. She said that she just recently started doing it when a table gave her a drink, and as she was going back to the bar to dump it out, a guy asked her to get him a drink. She told him he could have the one she was carrying. She didn’t expect him to give her any money for it, but when he did, she kept the cash. From there she realized how easy it would be to make some extra money.
She never felt like she was stealing because the bottle service table had paid in full for all of the liquor, mixers, etc. If they wanted to give drinks away, she would accept them. She never asked any of her tables for the drinks. She never felt like she was doing something illegal, since the club wasn’t out any money for the drinks.
The conversation was a real eye opener for us on just how easy it was for an employee to be dishonest, without throwing up any red flags or inventory losses. We were lucky that none of the VIP clients ever found out about her scheme. If they did, we might have lost their invaluable business, and may not have been alerted to the problem, the VIPs might have decided to simply never come back.
The employee was terminated for her actions. Even though she did not cause an inventory loss, she did, in fact, steal sales from our club. Every drink that was sold under the table was one less sale that we were able to make.
For more information on Bottle Caps, Bottle Lock, Bottle Locks, EASy Bottle or Bottle Services in your Nightclub please contact us at Bottle Service or call 1.770.426.0547
All of the most prominent nightclubs, bars and venues in New York, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Virginia Beach, Washington D.C., and Las Vegas use Bottle Services for their best clientele. Don’t let your nightclub miss out on this VIP experience.
After several months of investigating a completely unrelated incident of employee theft, we decided that we should do an informal investigation of the rest of our employees. We had been loosing inventory at an alarming rate and needed to make sure we had caught all of the culprits.
During these investigations, we noticed that one of our bottle service waitresses was taking an unusually high number of drinks from her tables. We do not allow our employees to drink on the clock, but do offer them leeway if the take a drink or a shot glass from a customer to avoid offending the customers. The policy is that the employees are to take the drinks back to the bar and dispose of them down the drain.
This particular employee was taking drinks and shots, not back to the bar, but out on the floor. We started to notice that the employee was selling the drinks (for cash) to other patrons. Hmm. Well she wasn’t causing a loss to our nightclub, but she definitely had no right to sell off another customer’s purchased liquor.
We watched her carefully for a few weeks to see how frequently this occurred. It was frequent enough that we could see she was making an extra several hundred dollars each week from these under the table drinks. We knew it was time to put an end to this employee’s deceit, and her employment with our nightclub.
We sat her down at the end of the night and asked her a few questions about what was going on. She said that she just recently started doing it when a table gave her a drink, and as she was going back to the bar to dump it out, a guy asked her to get him a drink. She told him he could have the one she was carrying. She didn’t expect him to give her any money for it, but when he did, she kept the cash. From there she realized how easy it would be to make some extra money.
She never felt like she was stealing because the bottle service table had paid in full for all of the liquor, mixers, etc. If they wanted to give drinks away, she would accept them. She never asked any of her tables for the drinks. She never felt like she was doing something illegal, since the club wasn’t out any money for the drinks.
The conversation was a real eye opener for us on just how easy it was for an employee to be dishonest, without throwing up any red flags or inventory losses. We were lucky that none of the VIP clients ever found out about her scheme. If they did, we might have lost their invaluable business, and may not have been alerted to the problem, the VIPs might have decided to simply never come back.
The employee was terminated for her actions. Even though she did not cause an inventory loss, she did, in fact, steal sales from our club. Every drink that was sold under the table was one less sale that we were able to make.
For more information on Bottle Caps, Bottle Lock, Bottle Locks, EASy Bottle or Bottle Services in your Nightclub please contact us at Bottle Service or call 1.770.426.0547
All of the most prominent nightclubs, bars and venues in New York, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Virginia Beach, Washington D.C., and Las Vegas use Bottle Services for their best clientele. Don’t let your nightclub miss out on this VIP experience.
A men’s clothing store was recently hit by a group of very nonchalant thieves. The group came into the store one by one, and scattered to each of the sides of the store. Each shoplifter had a bag with them and started to stuff the bags full of merchandise. Slowly each shoplifter made their way to the exit doors. As they left, the Checkpoint System alarmed notifying store management to their thievery.
As the shoplifters sped off, a few of them dropped their bags, and the store was able to recover some of the merchandise- and gain some insight into how much merchandise had been taken. After reviewing CCTV footage from their Checkpoint System video, they determined that these suspects actually had been in recently to scope out the store. Since they did not take anything then, the Checkpoint System did not alert store management as to what was going on.
What if there was a device that could help identify a large theft ring before the actual theft took place?
Retail customer traffic counters can potentially do just that. Because the purpose of VisiPlus, or any other brand of retail customer traffic counters, is to track the number of customers coming into a store during a specified hour of the day, any large influxes should be readily noticed.
When the VisiPlus reports started to show increases in traffic during a few hours of the day, but no sales to correspond, it would be prudent to investigate. Why were so many people coming in and out (several times in this particular instance) but there were no sales? Was there a problem with customer service, or with merchandise availability? If not, then maybe this is an indicator of a larger issue of organized theft.
VisiPlus reports to a store data garnered from its retail customer traffic counters. If the store analyzes this data in a timely fashion, there is no telling what issues they can catch before they become a problem.
A men’s clothing store was recently hit by a group of very nonchalant thieves. The group came into the store one by one, and scattered to each of the sides of the store. Each shoplifter had a bag with them and started to stuff the bags full of merchandise. Slowly each shoplifter made their way to the exit doors. As they left, the Checkpoint System alarmed notifying store management to their thievery.
As the shoplifters sped off, a few of them dropped their bags, and the store was able to recover some of the merchandise- and gain some insight into how much merchandise had been taken. After reviewing CCTV footage from their Checkpoint System video, they determined that these suspects actually had been in recently to scope out the store. Since they did not take anything then, the Checkpoint System did not alert store management as to what was going on.
What if there was a device that could help identify a large theft ring before the actual theft took place?
Retail customer traffic counters can potentially do just that. Because the purpose of VisiPlus, or any other brand of retail customer traffic counters, is to track the number of customers coming into a store during a specified hour of the day, any large influxes should be readily noticed.
When the VisiPlus reports started to show increases in traffic during a few hours of the day, but no sales to correspond, it would be prudent to investigate. Why were so many people coming in and out (several times in this particular instance) but there were no sales? Was there a problem with customer service, or with merchandise availability? If not, then maybe this is an indicator of a larger issue of organized theft.
VisiPlus reports to a store data garnered from its retail customer traffic counters. If the store analyzes this data in a timely fashion, there is no telling what issues they can catch before they become a problem.
When conducting an employee theft investigation, you start by doing the legwork, the research aspect, of it to validate, substantiate, or dismiss accusations or suspicions. After determining the validity of your suspicions, you should be able to clearly pinpoint specific losses, incurred by a specific employee(s) and the time and date when the losses occurred.
The next step is to collect your evidence and present your case to the employee in question. This is referred to as the employee interview. It is not done simply as a means to accuse the suspected employee of their wrongdoings. The interview is done to further corroborate the evidence found, see if the employee incurred other losses that you might not be aware of, and also to find out if other employees were involved in the employee thefts.
As such, this is not the time to throw the employee in a dark room, shine a bright light in their face, and demand that they confess. To make your interview more productive (thereby increasing your chance of garnering valuable information) you need subtlety and tact. You also need a few industry standard tips to help facilitate the process.
To start the interview, you should have thoroughly reviewed all evidence that has been brought forth to validate this employees involvement in losses with your business. You should have collected any paperwork, such as journal tapes, receipts, employee sign-off sheets, etc., video surveillance, and a list of the times and dates the losses occurred notating what was taken – cash, merchandise, etc.
The more you know, the harder it is for the employee to dismiss their actions as mistakes, poor training, etc. If you only have one incident, you may still consider having a conversation with the employee. It might be extremely difficult to prove that the losses were intentional, instead of an oblivious mistake. Keep in mind that this kind of conversation will be better suited as training and coaching session, instead of one looking for a confession.
After you have collected your evidence, you want to find someone to act as a witness. This should be a neutral manager or human resources person. It should not be a peer. The employee does have a right to privacy regarding the situation, so the witness needs to be able to keep this confidence and not speak about the case outside of the closed doors with you.
The witness is there to record the conversation and actions that take place. They need to include times in their report regarding when the interview started, finished, and the time law enforcement was brought in, if applicable. The witness should not chime in to the discussion, nor should they make facial expressions such as rolling their eyes, or display anger, disgust, etc.
Now is the time to bring the employee into the office to start the interview. While you don’t need to come right out and say that the employee is being questioned about theft, you should start by talking to them about needing their help to resolve some issues. From there talk to them about your policies and procedures. Not only is it a good way to put the employee at ease by asking simple questions they can readily answer, but also you start to eliminate excuses down the road.
Employees will frequently state they were not aware of a policy or a practice if they are accused of theft first- the “I didn’t know it was wrong” line of defense. When you validate their knowledge ahead of time, they have to reach further out to come up with a plausible denial, making a confession easier.
Next start to ask them about a few lower violations. An employee is more willing to confess to a lesser “charge” if they feel like they are getting away with their big crime. Continue to dismiss denials and continue to ask about other incidents. By establishing a pattern of their behavior, they will eventually understand what you know, and that they need to be compliant with your questions.
For more information on employee theft, employee theft investigation or internal theft contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase CCTV Systems that can help you stop Employee Theft and Internal Theft problems and help with your Employee Theft Investigation.
When conducting an employee theft investigation, you start by doing the legwork, the research aspect, of it to validate, substantiate, or dismiss accusations or suspicions. After determining the validity of your suspicions, you should be able to clearly pinpoint specific losses, incurred by a specific employee(s) and the time and date when the losses occurred.
The next step is to collect your evidence and present your case to the employee in question. This is referred to as the employee interview. It is not done simply as a means to accuse the suspected employee of their wrongdoings. The interview is done to further corroborate the evidence found, see if the employee incurred other losses that you might not be aware of, and also to find out if other employees were involved in the employee thefts.
As such, this is not the time to throw the employee in a dark room, shine a bright light in their face, and demand that they confess. To make your interview more productive (thereby increasing your chance of garnering valuable information) you need subtlety and tact. You also need a few industry standard tips to help facilitate the process.
To start the interview, you should have thoroughly reviewed all evidence that has been brought forth to validate this employees involvement in losses with your business. You should have collected any paperwork, such as journal tapes, receipts, employee sign-off sheets, etc., video surveillance, and a list of the times and dates the losses occurred notating what was taken – cash, merchandise, etc.
The more you know, the harder it is for the employee to dismiss their actions as mistakes, poor training, etc. If you only have one incident, you may still consider having a conversation with the employee. It might be extremely difficult to prove that the losses were intentional, instead of an oblivious mistake. Keep in mind that this kind of conversation will be better suited as training and coaching session, instead of one looking for a confession.
After you have collected your evidence, you want to find someone to act as a witness. This should be a neutral manager or human resources person. It should not be a peer. The employee does have a right to privacy regarding the situation, so the witness needs to be able to keep this confidence and not speak about the case outside of the closed doors with you.
The witness is there to record the conversation and actions that take place. They need to include times in their report regarding when the interview started, finished, and the time law enforcement was brought in, if applicable. The witness should not chime in to the discussion, nor should they make facial expressions such as rolling their eyes, or display anger, disgust, etc.
Now is the time to bring the employee into the office to start the interview. While you don’t need to come right out and say that the employee is being questioned about theft, you should start by talking to them about needing their help to resolve some issues. From there talk to them about your policies and procedures. Not only is it a good way to put the employee at ease by asking simple questions they can readily answer, but also you start to eliminate excuses down the road.
Employees will frequently state they were not aware of a policy or a practice if they are accused of theft first- the “I didn’t know it was wrong” line of defense. When you validate their knowledge ahead of time, they have to reach further out to come up with a plausible denial, making a confession easier.
Next start to ask them about a few lower violations. An employee is more willing to confess to a lesser “charge” if they feel like they are getting away with their big crime. Continue to dismiss denials and continue to ask about other incidents. By establishing a pattern of their behavior, they will eventually understand what you know, and that they need to be compliant with your questions.
For more information on employee theft, employee theft investigation or internal theft contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase CCTV Systems that can help you stop Employee Theft and Internal Theft problems and help with your Employee Theft Investigation.
The easiest way for someone to shoplift merchandise from a retailer is to have someone working on the inside. The shoplifter can access more merchandise, in both quantity and in dollar value when they are getting out of the store with a little help from an employee.
Sometimes the shoplifter approaches random employees that might be up for making a little extra cash on the side. If the employee bites, the shoplifter will cut them in for a share of the profits they make from selling the stolen merchandise. If the employee says no, the shoplifter will continue to make their rounds until they find an employee who will say yes.
It is very hard to stop the shoplifter from propositioning your employees, as there is often too little evidence to actually have the shoplifter arrested, or even for management to get close enough to kick them out of the store. These shoplifters are quick to be in and out of the stores, lest anyone pick up on what they are trying to do.
Another scenario, popular within organized crime rings, is to send one of their own associates in to apply for a job. Once this stooge is hired, the crime ring has an employee inside your organization for the sole purpose of making it easier for the crime ring to steal from you. Because you have hired this employee, it will probably take you longer to determine where the inventory losses are coming from, compared to if a shoplifter was acting on their own.
In both of these worst-case scenarios, a criminal background check may or may not provide you with an early warning. An employee who has been solicited probably had no previous criminal activity; they were simply tempted by an opportunity that presented itself. An employee that is planted by a crime ring has more than likely been chosen because they can pass a criminal background check.
That does not mean pre employment screening should not be used, on the contrary it is even more critical than before. An employee, who is thoroughly scrutinized prior to being hired, will be less likely to agree to become a part of an underhanded scheme. The key is to deter potential criminals by making it a more difficult process to become hired on.
Criminals are looking for the path of least resistance. This applies to when they are stealing merchandise, but also when they are putting their plans together to commit the crime. Faced with the task of having one of their own undergo the scrutiny of pre employment screening, or applying at a business that does not check backgrounds, the criminals will opt for the latter.
Same principal applies to the employee who is being solicited by a shoplifter. If they are aware of how protective a company is over whom they hire, there are more than likely going to be more controls in place. The employee who knows that they have a very real risk of getting caught will be less likely to steal for a stranger, even if it is just looking the other way. The screening and checks are the first look into what kind of company an employee is going to work for.
To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547
The easiest way for someone to shoplift merchandise from a retailer is to have someone working on the inside. The shoplifter can access more merchandise, in both quantity and in dollar value when they are getting out of the store with a little help from an employee.
Sometimes the shoplifter approaches random employees that might be up for making a little extra cash on the side. If the employee bites, the shoplifter will cut them in for a share of the profits they make from selling the stolen merchandise. If the employee says no, the shoplifter will continue to make their rounds until they find an employee who will say yes.
It is very hard to stop the shoplifter from propositioning your employees, as there is often too little evidence to actually have the shoplifter arrested, or even for management to get close enough to kick them out of the store. These shoplifters are quick to be in and out of the stores, lest anyone pick up on what they are trying to do.
Another scenario, popular within organized crime rings, is to send one of their own associates in to apply for a job. Once this stooge is hired, the crime ring has an employee inside your organization for the sole purpose of making it easier for the crime ring to steal from you. Because you have hired this employee, it will probably take you longer to determine where the inventory losses are coming from, compared to if a shoplifter was acting on their own.
In both of these worst-case scenarios, a criminal background check may or may not provide you with an early warning. An employee who has been solicited probably had no previous criminal activity; they were simply tempted by an opportunity that presented itself. An employee that is planted by a crime ring has more than likely been chosen because they can pass a criminal background check.
That does not mean pre employment screening should not be used, on the contrary it is even more critical than before. An employee, who is thoroughly scrutinized prior to being hired, will be less likely to agree to become a part of an underhanded scheme. The key is to deter potential criminals by making it a more difficult process to become hired on.
Criminals are looking for the path of least resistance. This applies to when they are stealing merchandise, but also when they are putting their plans together to commit the crime. Faced with the task of having one of their own undergo the scrutiny of pre employment screening, or applying at a business that does not check backgrounds, the criminals will opt for the latter.
Same principal applies to the employee who is being solicited by a shoplifter. If they are aware of how protective a company is over whom they hire, there are more than likely going to be more controls in place. The employee who knows that they have a very real risk of getting caught will be less likely to steal for a stranger, even if it is just looking the other way. The screening and checks are the first look into what kind of company an employee is going to work for.
To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547
