Retail Crime Prevention

It never starts with $100,000. It starts with $20. Then $200. Then $2,000. And before you know it… A trusted employee has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars over months… even years. As a fraud Detective, I've seen this story play out far too many times. Employee theft doesn’t usually start with greed. It starts with opportunity. A petty cash drawer. A company credit card. Blank checks. And most dangerous of all. NO ONE IS WATCHING. 🔴 Here’s what you need to watch for: Employees who refuse to take vacations or insist on doing everything themselves 1. Sudden lifestyle upgrades that don’t match their income 2. Missing documentation, “adjustments,” or unexplained expenses 3. Employees who are overly defensive when questioned 4. Vendor relationships that seem… too close 5. Lack of segregation of duties (e.g., the same person cutting and reconciling checks) 💡 How to prevent employee theft: ✅ Implement separation of financial duties (No one person should control it all) ✅ Require regular vacations and cross-training ✅ Use internal audits... Randomly ✅ Review your bank statements and merchant activity often ✅ Create a culture of accountability where whistleblowing is safe and encouraged 📉 Already a victim? You're not alone. Start by: 💥 Preserving and gathering evidence. Don’t confront too soon. 💥 Contacting your bank and attorney. 💥 Filing a police report and reviewing your insurance policy. 💥 Conduct a forensic investigation in the theft The hardest part? It’s usually someone you trust. But trust without controls is just risk waiting to be exploited. You can't stop what you don't know. #FraudHero Full video in the comments! #embezzlement #theft #insiderfraud #fruad #fraudprevention

If you can’t watch 30 screens at once… Why expect your staff to do it? Loss prevention teams face an impossible task. Most stores have 30+ security cameras running simultaneously. But even the best LP professional can only monitor 3 screens at once. The math doesn't work in your favor. This creates massive blind spots where theft happens unchecked. Some exceptionally trained staff might handle up to 5 cameras, but that's still less than half your store coverage. This problem costs retailers real money. With grocery stores operating on razor-thin 2-3% margins, and shrink often hitting 2%, you're losing nearly all your profit to theft. AI changes this equation completely. When AI watches all 30 cameras at once, it catches concealment gestures human eyes would miss. This isn't about replacing your team - it's about making them far more effective. Instead of drowning in camera feeds, your staff can respond instantly when the AI flags suspicious behavior. The results speak for themselves. Retailers using AI detection systems can cut shrink in half, boosting profits by 33%. Beyond catching theft, AI gives you actionable intelligence: • Exact times when theft happens most frequently • Which aisles are targeted • How to better schedule your staff based on theft patterns With AI, your staff wouldn't have to guess where to look. They’d already know.

The Co-op, one of the UK’s largest convenience retailers with over 2,600 stores and nearly 70,000 employees, faced a 140% rise in store crime in a single year. In response, they invested in Motorola Solutions VT100 body-worn cameras—part of a broader £70 million initiative focused on safety and crime prevention. Key results? ✅ Deterrence of violent incidents ✅ Real-time support via live streaming to their Security Operations Centre ✅ Court-admissible video evidence ✅ Confidence and peace of mind for frontline staff More than 1,000 cameras are now deployed across Co-op locations—helping staff feel safer, and making communities stronger. 📄Check out the full case study to learn more about their approach and results. #BodyWornCameras #RetailSafety #MotorolaSolutions #Coop #WorkplaceSecurity #VideoManagerEX

Most people in the QSR industry think loss prevention starts with catching theft. They’re wrong. It starts with understanding behavior not punishing it. Loss shows up long before a drawer is short or a drive-thru headset goes missing. It starts in patterns: voids, comps, late-night closeouts, manager overrides. The businesses that win are the ones using video + data not just to investigate loss, but to predict and prevent it. At DTiQ I’ve seen this firsthand. One major operator came to us after losing monthly across their locations. They assumed it was employee theft. Turns out, 70% of the issue was operational breakdowns, not malicious behavior. Our platform exposed the blind spots, and they had cut losses in half. No firings. Just smarter visibility, better coaching, and accountability that actually scales. Loss prevention isn’t reactive anymore. It’s proactive and it’s a revenue driver. If you're still thinking about LP like it’s 2005, you're losing money daily. If you’re ready to think differently, let’s talk. #QSR #LossPrevention #RestaurantTechnology #OperationalExcellence #VideoAnalytics #DataDrivenDecisions #RestaurantOperations #HospitalityTech #ShrinkReduction #DriveThru #DTiQ #RestaurantLeadership #RetailLossPrevention #BehavioralAnalytics #RestaurantProfitability

Security Isn’t a Product — It’s a Culture: Best Practices for 2025 and Beyond Security today goes far beyond locks and camera feeds. It’s no longer just about systems — it’s about strategy, collaboration, and creating a culture of awareness. Whether you're securing a distribution center, retail store, stadium, or mobile site, here are essential practices every security leader should consider: ✅ 1. Build a Layered Approach Real protection comes from depth. Relying on one solution — cameras, guards, or gates — is risky. The strongest programs blend deterrence, detection, delay, and response: surveillance + analytics + lighting + signage + remote monitoring + trained responders. ✅ 2. Don’t “Set and Forget” — Audit Regularly Security isn’t a one-time install. It’s a dynamic part of operations. Conduct monthly reviews: Are cameras clean and properly positioned? Are your SOPs up to date? Are your teams trained on current threats? What worked last year may be obsolete now. ✅ 3. Train for Real-World Threats Your front-line teams are your first defense. Provide hands-on training for today’s risks. Empower teams to recognize and respond to evolving threats such as: Workplace violence Smash-and-grab theft Weapon detection Access breaches Insider threats ✅ 4. Use AI & Smart Analytics AI doesn’t replace people — it enhances their capabilities: Loitering alerts flag casing behavior License plate recognition links incidents Facial detection identifies repeat threats Heatmaps reveal patterns The objective? Stop incidents before they happen — not just record them. ✅ 5. Make Security a Company-Wide Conversation Strong security programs involve operations, HR, legal, IT, and leadership. Incidents affect your brand, liability, insurance, and bottom line. Include all stakeholders when updating security plans. ✅ 6. Prepare for the “New Normal” Threats are growing more organized and tech-savvy. Are you ready for: Coordinated ORC across multiple sites? Hybrid threats blending physical and social tactics? Day/night operational gaps? Document Everything Incident logs, response notes, system checks, and footage are crucial for liability, audits, and reviews. If it’s not documented, it didn’t happen — legally speaking. Security is a 24/7 responsibility. Technology alone won’t solve problems. People, process, and partnerships will.

Fraud detection is inadequate because it focuses on trying to identify a problem AFTER it happened. Here is what to do BEFORE fraud occurs: ✅ Improve hiring practices. Make sure all hiring managers use better interviewing techniques and do better background checks so those hired have integrity. ✅ Provide awareness training. Every employee, and especially those performing control activities and those on the Second Line should know why their work matters and how to identify suspicious activities. ✅ More awareness training. Train employees on how to protect themselves and the organization from fraud, scams, and data/financial leakage. ✅ Even more awareness training. Some fraudsters use as defense that they didn’t know their actions were wrong. It is even worse when the judge agrees that the organization didn’t clarify expectations. Write in policy documents and explain what is acceptable, what is not, and the consequences. ✅ Strengthen preventive controls. Segregation of duties, access controls, authorization and approvals, documentation, and system rules are especially important now that so many organizations are reducing staff levels and modifying their processes. ✅ Improve monitoring. Between data analytics and AI, let employees know the organization uses technology to identify suspicious activities, and if fraudulent, the disciplinary action will be quick and appropriate. ✅ Lead by example. Manager-leaders should show what acting with integrity means. ✅ Strengthen the whistleblowing program. This way all employees understand that communicating irregularities is the right thing to do and become part of the protective mechanism so fraudsters can be identified and removed. Detection is good. Deterrence and prevention are better. #fraud #internalaudit #risk #riskmanagement #controls #acfe #theiia #bestpractices #prevention #detection

Digging deeper into dogs 🐶 & data 📈 - 64% of retail shrink comes from more than just external theft - here’s how to stop it 🚨 According to the National Retail Federation, most retail losses come from: 🔹 Employee Theft (29%) – Fraudulent refunds, cash theft, and inventory manipulation 🔹 Admin & Process Errors (27%) – Pricing mistakes, scanning errors, and inventory mismanagement 🔹 Supplier Fraud (6%) – Short shipments, fake invoices, and overcharges 💡 How DTiQ Helps Retailers Reduce Shrink: ✅ AI-powered video surveillance detects fraud and suspicious transactions in real-time ✅ POS analytics flags unusual discounts, refunds, and no-sale transactions ✅ Inventory & vendor audits uncover losses before they impact the bottom line ✅ Operational insights improve accuracy, compliance, and efficiency With the right tools, retailers can take control of shrink, protect margins, and drive profitability. 📢 Equipped with the appropriate resources, retailers can proactively combat shrinkage, safeguard profit margins, and bolster overall profitability. #Retail #LossPrevention #RetailTech