An INVITATION ONLY NETWORKING EVENT for Asset Protection, Loss Prevention and Safety Leaders in the Retail Industry.

The most memorable and must attend event(s) is held annually at major industry trade shows.

Join us when The CRAZE returns to RILA's 2018 Retail Asset Protection Conference in Orlando Florida.

Monday, April 30th
Andretti Indoor Karting & Games
9299 Universal Blvd, Orlando, FL 32819, USA

Watch Out For Your Invite or Visit the Event Website to See if You Qualify!

The CRAZE at RILA 2018 is made possible by these sponsors:

The Cybersecurity Tech Accord
Top tech firms take cyber security pledge
Historical Accord & Collaborative Effort
On Tuesday 34 tech firms, including Microsoft, ABB, Arm, Cisco, Dell, Facebook, HP, HPE, SAP, Nokia, Oracle, Symantec and Trend Micro have pledged to defend all customers everywhere from malicious attacks by cyber criminal enterprises and nation states.

Together they represent operators of technologies that power the world's internet communication and information infrastructure.  

The companies signed a Cybersecurity Tech Accord, which commits them to the principles of stronger defense, no offence, capacity building and collective action. This means companies will mount a stronger defense against cyber attacks to protect all customers globally regardless of the motivation for attacks online.

The companies have promised that they will not help any governments launch cyber attacks against innocent citizens and enterprises from anywhere, and to do more to empower developers and the people and businesses that use their technology, helping them improve their capacity for protecting themselves.

Under the fourth principle, the companies have committed to establishing formal and informal partnerships with industry, civil society and security researchers to improve collaboration.

The companies will do more to empower developers and the people and businesses that use their technology, helping them improve their capacity for protecting themselves. This may include joint work on new security practices and new features the companies can deploy in their individual products and services.

Companies that signed the accord plan to hold their first meeting during the security-focused RSA Conference taking place in San Francisco, and will focus on capacity building and collective action. Future actions may include jointly developed guidelines or broadly deployed features, as well as information sharing and partnering to combat specific threats to make the online world a safer place for people and businesses everywhere - and uphold the promise and benefit technology offers society.

The victims of cyberattacks are businesses and organizations of all sizes, with economic losses expected to reach $8 trillion by 2022.* Recent cyberattacks have caused small businesses to shutter their doors, hospitals to delay surgeries and governments to halt services, among other disruptions and safety risks.

"As an industry, we must band together to fight cybercriminals and stop future attacks from causing even more damage," said Kevin Simzer, Chief Operating Officer, Trend Micro. cybertechaccord.org
computerweekly.com

What We've All Been Waiting To Hear
CEO of one of the World's Largest Retailers Finally Said It!
JD.com boss says retail will be "entirely" operated by robots
Retail will be completely taken over by robot workers in the future according to the chief executive of one the world's largest retailers.

JD.com's Richard Liu told an audience at the World Retail Congress yesterday that he predicts: "Sooner or later, our entire industry will be operated by AI (artificial intelligence) and robots, not humans."

As head of China's second largest ecommerce platform, Liu is already pioneering technologies such as drone delivery, warehouse automation and AI in order to meet the immense demands of its 1 billion customer base.

Though Liu said it could take a decade for the industry to be entirely populated by robots, retailers here in the UK are already slashing scores of jobs in favour of automation.

Despite Liu's bold claims, other retail leaders at the event warned against this.

John Lewis' group director Tom Athron said: "Humans and machines together will always be more powerful than machines on their own or humans on their own.

"If consumers don't want the human touch in retail then we are in real trouble as an industry. "The easiest thing to do when sales fall is to cut costs by taking jobs out of stores but that's not what customers want." retailgazette.co.uk

The Home Depot to Hire 1,000 Technology Professionals
The Home Depot is hiring approximately 1,000 new technology professionals in 2018 at its primary technology centers in Atlanta, Austin and Dallas to support initiatives related to its $11.1 billion three-year strategic investment plan.

Recently named one of Fast Company's 50 Most Innovative Companies, The Home Depot's technology team uses the latest modern development stacks and agile practices across public and private cloud platforms. Additionally, the team leverages artificial intelligence, augmented reality, big data, machine learning, and voice and visual recognition capabilities to build award-winning experiences for customers and associates.

"With the rapidly changing retail environment, this is easily one of the most exciting places to work in technology," said Matt Carey, EVP and chief information officer of The Home Depot. "Our team is building some of the most advanced software anywhere to help customers shop whenever, wherever and however they want." prnewswire.com

US, UK: Russian Hackers Deeply Embedded in Routers, Switches
Advice: Update Outdated Protocols, Equipment
The U.S. and U.K. warned Monday that Russian state-sponsored hackers have compromised critical internet infrastructure with the aim of spying, extracting intellectual property and gaining footholds for future cyberattacks.

The joint statement is the first time the two countries have together directly attributed cyberattacks to Russia. The warning came with detailed technical advice for how government agencies and private companies can defend equipment, including home office and enterprise routers and switches, allegedly targeted by Russia.

"We do not make this attribution lightly and will hold steadfast with our partners," says FBI Deputy Assistant Director Howard Marshall.

The targets of the Russian operations include government, private-sector organizations, critical infrastructure providers and ISPs. govinfosecurity.com

Halifax mall plotters admired Columbine killers
Hoped to inspire other mass shooting attacks
'Believed their destiny was to commit this massacre'
The co-conspirators in the foiled Valentine's Day shooting plot at a Halifax mall admired the Columbine killers and hoped to inspire other mass shootings, a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge heard Monday.

Souvannarath pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder last April, several months after Randall Steven Shepherd - a Halifax man described in court as the "cheerleader" of the shooting plot - was sentenced to a decade in prison.

A third alleged conspirator, 19-year-old James Gamble, killed himself as police tried to arrest him at his Halifax-area home a day before the planned attack on the Halifax Shopping Centre.

The agreed statement says Souvannarath and Gamble had met online four days before the previous Christmas and discovered they both admired the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado in which teenagers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people and themselves.

The pair planned to wear masks and use a shotgun and hunting rifle owned by Gamble's father, and begin the massacre with Molotov cocktails, it said. After the massacre, they planned to kill each other. thestar.com  globalnews.ca

Canadian Drug Firm Admits Selling Counterfeit and Misbranded Prescription Drugs Throughout the United States
Several Canadian companies associated with Kristjan Thorkelson, including Canada Drugs, Rockley Ventures, and River East Supplies, admitted today to widespread illegal sales of misbranded and counterfeit prescription drugs in the United States. Judge Dana Christensen sentenced the Canadian companies to forfeit $29,000,000 of the proceeds of their illegal scheme, to pay a fine of $5,000,000, and to five years of probation.

In 2010, it came to the attention of the FDA that Canada Drugs was shipping to health care providers in the United States prescription drugs that were unapproved in the United States, labelled with foreign languages, and that lacked adequate instructions for use. Further investigation revealed that various entities affiliated with Canada Drugs were smuggling unapproved and misbranded drugs intended for sale in foreign countries into the United States, including for sale to providers in Montana.

To facilitate its sales, Canada Drugs purchased other companies engaged in this business and used the brand names, drug inventories, and customer lists of those companies to further its illegal operations. justice.gov

Canadian retail loyalty program PC Optimum gets hit by points theft twice
Loblaws blames password glitch
​Thieves continue to steal hundreds of thousands of PC Optimum rewards points, and some members have had the misfortune of being hit twice. The reason? A glitch in the program's system allowed a thief to stay in a member's online account even after the initial theft was discovered and the password reset.

After being contacted by CBC News on Monday, PC Optimum's owner, Loblaws, said it was fixing the password reset glitch, and reported on Friday that the problem had been resolved. The retailer said only "a very small number" of its nine million members had been negatively affected.

Since launching on Feb. 1, the PC Optimum rewards program has battled a handful of technical issues, including strangers' accounts being combined together and members' points disappearing into cyberspace. cbc.ca

Canada Store Owner Sounds Alarm
Consumers beware of counterfeit apparel online
Jigme Love, co-owner of the Vancouver-based luxury consignment retailer Mine & Yours, said she's seen the counterfeiting of brand name apparel transition from predominantly bags and accessories to dresses and other clothing.

The company has destroyed a number of clothing items over the years that, upon closer inspection, turned out to be fakes, costing the store, she said. There's also been a shift from counterfeiting common high-end names like Michael Kors to more coveted haute couture lines like Chanel.

An estimated $20 billion to $30 billion in counterfeit consumer goods are sold in Canada every year. ctvnews.ca

Store Openings in Canada
● Freson Bros. expands amidst chain grocers, online shopping; 2 new stores coming
● Giant Tiger roars into St. Thomas, Ont. with massive new store
● Small Victory bakery setting up second Vancouver location
● Smartwool opens 1st standalone Canadian store
● Sugar Beach candy store opens in Winnipeg
● Casper announces first Canadian retail stores
● West Vancouver's Farm to Table to open Yaletown location
● Ecco Shoes opens new downtown Montreal flagship

B.C. woman awarded $755,000 after slipping on laundry detergent in Superstore

Report: Walmart, Costco gain grocery market share in Canada

Toronto police looking to hire 50 new 911 operators in plan to address wait times

Video shows Quebec mosque shooter in Couche Tard store minutes before rampage

Lululemon names new chief financial officer as search continues for new CEO

HBC Names Bari Harlam Chief Marketing Officer

Miss an episode? Catch all our "Live in NYC" 2018 videos here.

Get involved in our next broadcast in June at NRF Protect in Dallas. Contact us!

Macy's - The Top E-Commerce Clothing Store in the Country By Far
Macy's is the top e-commerce clothing store in the country, according to a new study from the research firm SimilarWeb. The department store chain clobbered rivals in web and mobile traffic last quarter, with 55 million visitors - besting retailers like Amazon, Nordstrom and The Gap in attracting apparel shoppers to its site.
 (Amazon was the frontrunner in general merchandise, but the retail behemoth didn't even make the top 10 for apparel traffic, although the Amazon-owned Zappos did.)

Instead, the ranking reads like a laundry list of retailers that were considered down for the count in to the so-called "retail apocalypse." Victoria's Secret, which suffered declining sales every month last year, made the cut. So did Footlocker, which plans to close 100 stores in 2018.

About 25% of the online traffic to the top 10 apparel sites this year came from Macy's, twice as much as JC Penney and Nordstrom.

Here are the top 10 most popular online merchants across apparel, courtesy of SimilarWeb.
 

Experian's 2017 E-commerce Fraud Report
Online shopping fraud attacks rose 30%
Russian hackers and trolls received all the media attention but China and Venezuela were the sources of the most overseas e-commerce fraud attacks in 2017, according to new Experian data. Millions of online transactions were analyzed to identify fraud attacks on online transactions across the U.S for the 2017 E-commerce Fraud report.

Online shopping fraud attacks rose 30% in 2017 vs. 2016, and transactions originating from a foreign Internet Protocol (IP) address were about 7 times riskier than average.

The uptick in data breaches, already 278 incidents in 2018, and the increased presence of the dark web marketplace have made personal information more accessible to criminals.

E-commerce Fraud Increased 30% in 2017 and rose dramatically last year in two categories: Shipping fraud increased 37% in 2017 vs. 2016. With the Western U.S. up 60%.

Billing fraud increased 34% with the North Central region up 50%.

Beware Chinese and Venezuelan IP Addresses Bearing Gifts - China was the riskiest country based on IP address in 2017. The majority of bad traffic originating out of China hit Oregon and Delaware, followed by California. Beaverton, Oregon's 97079 ZIP code had the highest shipping attack rates in the U.S. last year, and it's shipping and billing attack rates were the highest from an IP address in China.

Venezuela would have been the riskiest IP country if weren't for the fact they have 60% lower volume of online transactions compared to China. Venezuela is nearly 30 times riskier than the population average would otherwise suggest. The 33198 Miami ZIP code, which was in the top 10 for both billing and shipping fraud in 2017, suffered it's highest shipping attack rates (46.2%) from a Venezuelan IP address.

Credit card fraud was the most common form of identity theft (133,015 reports) in 2017, according to the FTC.  According to Experian, credit cards were used in 92% of fraudulent transactions last year, while 7% happened through direct billing, third-party transfers, or prepaid gift cards.

Riskiest States for E-commerce Fraud are Delaware and Oregon - Delaware and Oregon were the riskiest states for both billing and shipping fraud for the second year in a row. Both states saw a significant increase in shipping attack rates in 2017, with Delaware increasing over 300% and Oregon just under 300%.

Delaware and Oregon are both natural high-risk areas for fraud because they have cities near large ports and international airports. This combination makes an ideal location for the reshipping of fraudulent merchandise, enabling criminals to move stolen goods more effectively.

50% of Online Fraud Attacks Happened in Delaware, New York, and California experian.com

Heat map | 2017 e-commerce attack rates

Visa Presses 'Play' on VCR, Merchants Await Effects of New Chargeback Rules

Walmart takes on Amazon, gives its website a makeover in latest e-commerce push

Study: Lack of online content makes customers abandon purchases

METRORCA & NYPD hold conference to tackle ORC
Retail schemes on the rise even as crime drops

As overall crime drops to record lows in the city, one nefarious type persists: organized retail crime.

And despite its nonviolent name, it's nothing to shrug at, law enforcement officials say. It's particularly insidious and it's been linked to gang activity - and even terrorism.

Schemes, such as shoplifting huge amounts of merchandise and then returning the items for gift cards that can be traded for drugs, are extremely challenging for authorities to crack down on because they are often operated by extensive rings across city and state lines.

On Tuesday, the NYPD hosted a conference of the Metro Organized Retail Crime Alliance, a public-private partnership, at the Police Academy in College Point, Queens. Regional law enforcement agencies, including the Jersey City and Nassau County police and the Ontario County Sheriff's Office, attended, along with global and regional directors of asset protection and loss prevention from Target, Sephora, JC Penney and CVS .

"You've heard me talk before about the shootings and the violence in the city, but that's not the entire picture of crime in New York City," said Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea. "A segment of crime that we've seen growing in recent years is property crime, and it's now making up about 45% of the index crime in New York City. This is not a small problem."

Organized retail crime costs the U.S. about $30 billion each year, according to the FBI. Special Agent Eric Ives called it a "gateway crime that often leads us to major crime rings that use the illicit proceeds to fund other crimes, such as organized crime activities, health care fraud, money laundering and potentially even terrorism."

"I don't want to paint a picture of this as a one-time issue where somebody is going in to steal. That certainly occurs, because they're on hard times," Shea said. "But there is no doubt that there are very organized crews behind a significant portion of this."

The crime alliance allows the law and retailers to share intelligence, establish patterns and ultimately lead to more successful prosecutions. nydailynews.com ny1.com

See more pictures from the event posted on LinkedIn by Rob Ruiz

Lynchburg, VA: Suspect in stolen vehicle stole tools from Lowe's in Lynchburg, Madison Heights
Police said Lowe's loss prevention contacted them in reference to a larceny from the store after they said a suspect, wearing a camouflage jacket, jeans, and boots stole several tools. wset.com



Hermiston, OR: Officers sort through stolen property, search for thief
Hermiston Police are sorting through a mountain of seized stolen items, and the pile keeps growing. A room at the police station on South First Street was filled Tuesday afternoon with stolen items recovered from several different locations, including storage units in Hermiston and Umatilla. Large items include bicycles, firearms, electronic devices and artwork. As police work to reunite victims with their stolen property, they continue to search for the suspected thief, Russell Greene, 36, of Hermiston. Hermiston police chief Jason Edmiston said it was hard to assess the monetary value of the stolen property. "I couldn't even tell you how many truckloads have been seized," he said. eastoregonian.com

Greenville, SC: Woman and an Armed Juvenile arrested for multiple TV thefts from 2 separate Walmarts

Shootings & Deaths

Inglewood, CA: 2 Dead In Strip Mall Shooting
Police are investigating a walk-up shooting at an Inglewood strip mall that killed two people Tuesday. Inglewood Police Department patrol units responded to a radio call of multiple shooting victims down on N. La Brea Ave. around 3:30 p.m. Police are asking for the public's help identifying two persons of interest - a man and a woman captured on security video during the shooting. cbslocal.com

Linden, NJ: Man gunned down in parking lot of 7-Eleven store
A manhunt is underway after a man was shot and killed in a convenience store the parking lot of a New Jersey 7-Eleven on Tuesday night. The incident is the result of a robbery. nj.com

Merrillville, IN: Toddler accidentally shoots Pregnant Mother outside of Plato's Closet store
Police said a man is in custody after a woman was accidentally shot by her 3-year-old daughter Tuesday afternoon. Merrillville police said the woman was in her car in a parking lot outside secondhand store Plato's Closet at the time of the shooting. According to police, the woman's boyfriend left his 9mm handgun with extended magazine on the center console of the car while he went inside the shop. The victim's 3-year-old daughter grabbed the gun and it went off. The bullet went through the seat and struck the woman through her back in her right shoulder. nydailynews.com

Homewood, AL: Security guard shoots person in Walmart parking lot

Robberies & Thefts

Durban, South Africa: Armed gang storms Westville Mall
Police are on the hunt for three armed men who stormed a jewelry store at a Westville Mall on Wednesday. It is alleged that three men walked into the shop at smashed through the glass. They then grabbed jewelry and shoved it into their bags, before fleeing the scene. iol.co.za

Springfield, IL: Store manager arrested in synthetic marijuana probe

UK: Worchester, England: Thief caught after dropping his wallet during $20,000 cigarette Smash & Grab

Sentencings

Oklahoma City, OK: Commutation denied, Life sentence upheld for Pharmacist charged with teen's murder
The Pharmacist serving a life sentence for killing a teen during the commission of a botched robbery was denied a commutation in a hearing Tuesday. Jerome Ersland, 66, was given a life sentence with the possibility of parole after he was convicted of first degree murder. In 2009, Ersland shot unarmed 16-year-old Antwun Parker in the head after Parker and another tried to rob his pharmacy. Video shows Ersland left the store to chase after the second suspect, then came back and shot Parker five more times with another gun. On Tuesday, Ersland made a plea to the Pardon and Parole Board for a commutation. Attorney Kendall Sykes said it was too expensive for Oklahoma to keep a sick and elderly man who isn't a danger to anyone behind bars. At a hearing on Monday, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater described Ersland as an "executioner" in the 2009 shooting, not as a victim. kfor.com

Anchorage, AK: Two men sentenced to Federal Prison for 10 years for Jewelry, C-Stores and Bank Armed Robberies

Milwaukee, WI: 10 years in federal prison for man who robbed bank, 2 cellphone stores at gunpoint

Wausau, WI: Man sentenced to 3 years for Dollar General Armed Robbery

Corpus Christi, TX: Man to serve 3 years in Federal Prison for Credit Card Fraud and Identity Theft

New Haven, CT: Man Sentenced to 41 Months in Prison for Armed Robbery of Video Game Store

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Behind Every Great Leader is a Great Team
 

You're Only as Strong as the Team Around You. Here's How to  Build One That'll Be Successful
For any organization, there are many hats to be worn: someone to handle budgets, risk management, IT, etc. No one person can handle all that alone, so having a winning team not only helps leaders in the long run, they can also be instrumental to your own happiness. Ask the tough questions

Most Leaders Struggle to Build Great Teams Because They Make This 1 Glaring Mistake
The secret to building a winning team is to hire, train them, and give them the tools they need to make their own success. Go ahead, pass that torch, your team will be better because of it. Here's how to let them succeed on their own. Encourage knowledge

For a High Performing Team, Ask Positive Questions
One study found that members of high-performing teams ask as many questions as they advocate for their own position. This helps drive high-performing teams, builds strong connections and ultimately increases performance success. Here's how you can use positive questions to help drive your team. Shape the future

The Cheaters Guide to Leading High Performing Teams
Anyone can lead a high-performing team. There are no shortcuts or secrets to getting your team to perform at high levels. It just takes these five steps and an ability to be fair, let them coach amongst themselves and step back when necessary. Recognize individual performance

Competition is a good thing because it's what has made America so strong. Whether it's competition between companies or between executives, it has a tendency to bring out the best in most people and in most organizations. It leads to innovation, invention, growth and it instills a sense of competition in everything we do that tends to motivate and challenge people to reach beyond their own self-definitions of what they can do or can't do. Without it, progress, which is slow to begin with, would be stifled but, with it, you have inspiration and purpose. The whole key is how you compete in the open market, whether as a company or as an executive, reflecting professional standards and a code of ethics is critical even when your competition isn't. The #1 rule should always be never speak ill of the competition because in actuality it's more of a reflection of who you are and not who they are.

Just a Thought,
Gus

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