Six Sears Holdings Asset & Profit Protection Associates Receive Loss Prevention Foundation Scholarships to Support Career Advancement
Sears Holdings, in partnership with the The Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF) today awarded six (6) Sears Holdings Asset & Profit Protection Associates scholarships designed to support their career advancement and personal development while working at SHC. Sears Holdings takes great pleasure in every opportunity to invest in the development of their teams.

SHC awarded the scholarships for certification-review courses and the final LPCertified (LPC) examination which will earn them a widely-recognized certification within the loss prevention industry.

Scott Glenn, Chief Security Officer noted: "It is a tremendous honor for Sears Holdings to be able to invest in the future leaders of our industry.These associates have proven themselves in terms of their commitment and performance. Those selected for the scholarships are the future of our organization and I am proud of the dedication they are displaying to continue their professional growth."

Congratulations to the following recipients of the LPCertified (LPC) Scholarships:

 ● Cesar Ceballos - Asset Protection Manager
 ● Josiah Leite - Market Manger, Asset Protection
 ● Jennifer Sack - Asset Protection Manager
 ● Aubrey Petracca - Area Manager, Asset Protection
 ● Brandan Hearne - Asset Protection Manager
 ● Ron Bigelow - Manager, AP Inventory Process & Projects   yourlpf.org

San Francisco, CA: Security Guard terminated following Racial Profiling outside Grocery Store
Eric Liittschwager, who owns both the Mission and Visitacion Valley's Grocery Outlets, said that he's seen Gregory's video. He's asked the Kingdom Group, a San Francisco-based company that contracts security guards, to bar the guard captured in Gregory's video from ever returning to his store. "I was appalled," Liittschwager told us. "This isn't who we are." Hoodline (the reporter) also reached out to the Kingdom Group for comment on the incident, and they let us know that the security guard has been fired. "He no longer works here," a representative for Kingdom Group told us. "We don't tolerate that kind of behavior here." hoodline.com

Albuquerque, NM: Officers to issue citations instead of making arrests for non-violent misdemeanors
Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden sent a special order to officers Tuesday via a letter and three-minute video. In them, he states, "all officers shall issue citations when appropriate in lieu of arrests on non-violent misdemeanor offenses." This means if criminals trespass, cause damage to property under $1,000, shoplift under $500, or are caught with small amounts of drugs, more than likely they'll be sent away with a citation. It's a decision Albuquerque Police Union President Shaun Willoughby called "shocking."

"The criminal element is going to be happy as a clam," he said. "This is already the best place, like I said, to be a criminal. We're just confirming it and putting it in court orders." The orders are part of the McClendon Lawsuit. Jimmie McClendon filed a lawsuit in 1995 on behalf of a group of inmates at MDC. He sued the city and county following a misdemeanor arrest. It centered on jail overcrowding and took more than 20 years to resolve. krqe.com

Fighting supply chain theft with transparency
A multi-pronged approach
Here are examples of how policing theft could happen at different points within a company:

Distribution centers
How can one of the most protected areas also be one of the prime areas for fraudulent activity? According to Danbee Investigations Barry Brandman, referenced in a Supply Chain Digest article, distribution centers generally aren't adequately safe from theft, since they rely too much on video systems, guards, alarms and measures that might not actually cut down on the rate of fraud.

That's because, Brandman, said, theft comes from the culture which can ensnare workers at distribution centers. He also said that 80 percent of employees may start out loyal but give in to some criminal enterprise over time, as opposed to the minority of workers who are either intentionally law-abiding or fraudulent. This could mean that your company needs to increase its transparency through purchasing management to closely oversee spend and look for irregularities.

The supply trail
Once shipments leave production, of course, they may have a long road before their final destinations. During that journey, all sorts of errors or deliberate thefts might occur.

To counter this, one approach could include making data more accessible to every member of the supply chain through an updated global ledger. In other words, this might involve the much-mentioned blockchain model for compliance and ledger tracking.

Companies could also control how they release data, giving them more transparency options as they learn more about their own products. Since some major businesses have started using blockchain, it's possible there will be more real-world examples to draw from in the future. strategicsourceror.com

NRF PROTECT Session
'Rise of the ORCAs: Crime Fighting Machines or Pipe Dreams?'
Over the past decade, Organized Retail Crime Associations (ORCAs) have sprung up across the country. While ORCAs are envisioned as public-private partnerships, the question remains as to whether ORCAs are actual crime-fighting machines or if they are just ineffective window dressing. This session will gauge the overall health of the ORCA movement, identify best practices and challenges and provide a vision on where the ORCA movement could go in the next 10 years.

Learn to: ● Implement best practices for an existing ORCA or the creation of a new ORCA. ● Build and maintain a robust public-private partnership in the fight against organized retail crime. ● Get and share insights on the future of ORCAs and the cross coordination that exists among current ORCAs. nrfprotect.nrf.com

The Risks of Marrying Ethics to Compliance
While both ethics and compliance share the goal of explaining to people why they need to behave a certain way, a new report states they differ in approach, with ethics focused on embedding a set of common values and letting workers exercise their own personal judgment and compliance spelling out what can and can't be done. While the two roles overlap, the report states each function has its own required set of skills, "making it difficult to find an individual that can successfully lead both ethics and compliance." The distinctions between what is ethical and what is legal can sometimes be found in how an organization structures its code and what it titles the document - with organizations driven by compliance calling them codes of conduct and those driven by ethics calling them codes of ethics. Organizations need to move beyond the point where employees think everything that is "not explicitly forbidden by laws or regulations is allowed," and they need to be encouraged to ask questions and raise concerns when they are unsure about something, stated the report.

The two functions share challenges, including improving the perceptions of ethics and compliance. The report states some employees can feel their morals are being questioned when the organization speaks about "ethics," while others feel the word "compliance" connotes they are under constant surveillance. The two functions need to work to establish higher levels of trust with outside stakeholders and to make sure their messages are being heard in the C-suite and boardroom. Dangers exist when trying to combine ethics and compliance. If the focus is too much on compliance, the report states the prominence of the ethics message diminishes and personal accountability can erode. "A strong ethics program... reduces the likelihood of employees rationalizing misconduct," stated the report. "Rather, they will engage in moral reasoning to justify why they should not transgress organizational ethics standards." wsj.com

Reviewing Employee E-Mails
When You Should & When You Shouldn't
Employees should have no expectation of privacy on an employer's e-mail system, said Nancy Flynn, founder and executive director of The ePolicy Institute, a Columbus, Ohio-based organization that provides electronic policy training and consulting.

"The federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act makes clear that workplace e-mail [is] the property of the employer, and employees should not expect privacy when sending, receiving, downloading, uploading, printing or otherwise transmitting electronic messages," she said.

At least two-thirds of companies monitor employees for e-mail infractions, and half have fired workers for those infractions, according to research by Flynn. The most common kinds of misuse tend to be violation of company policies, inappropriate language, excessive personal use or breaking confidentiality.

Courts have ruled that if an employer owns the computers and runs the computer network, it's generally free to read employee e-mail messages, as long as there's a valid business purpose for doing so.

An employee e-mail monitoring policy should:

● Spell out expectations for behavior, Flynn said. "Use policy and training to explain e-mail risks facing the company, such as lawsuits, regulatory fines, security breaches, productivity problems, lost and mismanaged business records, and PR nightmares," she said. "Explain that monitoring is intended to help the organization minimize risks and maximize compliance. Once employees understand the 'why' behind the company's e-mail policy monitoring procedures, workers are more likely to adhere to the rules and accept the reality of monitoring."

● Include a clear statement that workers have no expectation to privacy regarding e-mails sent through the company's system and that the employer reserves the right to monitor work accounts, Eastman said.

● Notify employees that they should not use e-mail on company-provided equipment for personal tasks like finding a job, shopping or scheduling vacations.

● Be clear about the consequences employees will face for violating the policy. shrm.org

Your next job interview could be with a recruiter bot
San Francisco-based Mya Systems has developed an AI recruiter that can evaluate resumes, schedule and conduct applicant screenings, and even congratulate you on your first day of work.

Short for "my assistant," Mya chats with applicants via computer or smartphone to ask many of the typical questions expected in early job interviews: What's your availability to start work? How does $15 per hour sound? How many years of experience do you have?

"Even when candidates don't get a job, they're excited to hear back at all because they're so used to the black hole of resumes," Mya Systems' founder Eyal Grayevesky told CNNTech.

Applicants chat with Mya, and if she deems them a good fit she'll schedule an in-person interview with the (human) hiring manager. She will also automatically send directions via Google Maps and even offer tips on what to wear.

If the applicant isn't a fit for the gig, Mya suggests other jobs to which they might be better suited, based on keywords and zip code.

Grayevsky said recruiters shouldn't worry about Mya coming for their jobs. By eliminating much of the busy work, the bot helps human resources be more, well, human.

Still, recruiting is an inexact science -- and there's no guarantee that a highly qualified candidate won't slip through the cracks, whether AI or a human is reviewing the resumes. Eventually, Grayevsky hopes to accumulate a data set to improve all aspects of the hiring process. For example, early analysis of Mya's dataset showed candidates who push back on compensation questions during an interview leave jobs more quickly. cnn.com

Wal-Mart Denies Discrimination Claims by Pregnant Workers
Two former Wal-Mart Stores Inc employees have filed a lawsuit accusing the retailer of treating thousands of pregnant workers as "second-class citizens" by rejecting their requests to limit heavy lifting, climbing on ladders and other potentially dangerous tasks.

The proposed class action lawsuit was filed in federal court in Illinois on Friday by Talisa Borders and Otisha Woolbright, who say that until 2014, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart had a company-wide policy that denied pregnant women the same accommodations as workers with other disabilities.

The company in a statement provided by spokesman Randy Hargrove denied the women's claims and said Wal-Mart's pregnancy policies "have always fully met or exceeded both state and federal law." The company said a separate anti-discrimination policy it maintains has long listed pregnancy as a protected status. "Walmart is a great place for women to work," the company said. insurancejournal.com

Class Cert. Bid Uncertain For Calif. Big Lots Workers
A California federal judge who was asked to certify six classes representing 20,000 Big Lots workers accusing the retailer of cheating them out of wages and break pay said Monday he's leaning toward "largely" denying the motion, particularly for groups he said weren't identified in the original complaint.

The suit by Viola Hubbs, a former cashier for the closeout retailer, claims that Big Lots and its affiliate PNS Stores Inc. kept workers in the store after they'd clocked out and kept them working during meal and rest breaks without providing the required "premium" compensation. law360.com

FTC not ready to approve Walgreens-Rite Aid deal

Dick's Sporting Goods cuts 100+ jobs at corporate store support center

Amazon is hiring people to break into the multibillion-dollar pharmacy market

Walmart Lowering Grocery Prices To Prep For Battle With U.S. Newcomer Lidl

McDonald's expands delivery to more than 1,000 restaurants across the US

NRF: Graduation Spending to Reach Record-High $5.6 Billion


Quarterly Same Store Sales Results

American Eagle Q1 comp's up 2%, sales up 2%
Ace Hardware Q1 comp's down 0.2%, sales up 0.1%
Target Q1 comp's down 1.3%, sales down 1.1%
Urban Outfitters Q1 comp's down 3.1%, sales down 0.2%

Disney Declines To Pay Ransom to Hackers
Cyber-Pirates threaten to post 'Pirates of the Caribbean 5' online
Disney's upcoming Johnny Depp film Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales has been pilfered by ransom hackers seeking payment from the studio. The hackers have demanded an enormous amount of money be paid in Bitcoin. Disney is currently working with the FBI and will not pay.

Although Disney CEO Bob Iger did not reveal which movie the ransom hackers claim to have, he did reveal to ABC employees during a town hall meeting in New York on Monday that the incident had occurred. The hackers said they would release bits of the film - in increments - if their demands weren't met. Deadline learned that it was, indeed, Jerry Bruckheimer's fifth in the Pirates franchise, which is scheduled for release May 26.

Disney would not comment, but insiders said that the company refuse to pay. This follows the same issue Netflix faced when a ransom hacker spilled out 10 episodes of the next season of Orange Is The New Black when Netflix also refused to ante up. deadline.com

Reducing the likelihood of retail cyberattacks

STORES Magazine Interview with NRF PROTECT Keynote Speaker Kimberly Peretti, Information Security Expert

Learning the Language
The field of cybercrime is dynamic, with criminals working hard and fast to defeat the defenses retailers employ. In just the last few years there has been an evolution in cybercrime and the activities of its perpetrators.

"Today there is more phishing and use of stolen credentials than manipulating computer code in order to access systems," Peretti says. "There are more threat actors who are capable of sophisticated attacks, including attacks that may be disruptive and destructive in nature."

Even as crimes and criminals evolve, however, "we have seen criminals continue to exploit common vulnerabilities and target the same type of data for resale on the black market," she says.

Peretti says the majority of retailer breaches are limited to the theft of payment card data, rather than more sensitive personal information held by other types of businesses. She says merchants are targeted because the point of sale is "where the data can be found for a very brief moment in an unencrypted form."

Recognizing Vulnerabilities
Peretti suggests that businesses can address the issue by conducting vulnerability assessments. She also recommends having a formal system in place - a vulnerability management system - for addressing identified vulnerabilities.

Businesses can also monitor and track vulnerabilities identified by security researchers in white papers or reported in the news, since not addressing these publicly known issues could lead to scrutiny from regulators, Peretti adds.

International Challenges
When testing cyber incident response plans, Peretti emphasizes that companies must understand what they are trying to test. They should also choose the facilitator/moderator carefully, use real-world scenarios and incorporate international elements into their scenarios. The point about including international elements comes from real-world experience, since investigations into cybercrime networks frequently lead off-shore.

Evaluating concerns
The FBI has identified several types of specialist cybercriminals: coders, programmers, vendors, techies and hackers who search for and exploit application, system and network vulnerabilities to gain administrator or payroll access.

There are also fraudsters who create and deploy social engineering schemes, including phishing, spamming and domain squatting; hosters who provide "safe" hosting of illicit content servers and sites; and "chasers" who control drop accounts and provide those names and accounts to other criminals for a fee.

Shifting consequences
Even as new technologies are developed, they are covered by a patchwork of out-of-date laws and regulations. Most states have breach notification statutes, some quite different from others, making it challenging for multi-state businesses like retail chains. NRF has asked Congress to pass a uniform national data breach law that would supersede state laws. NRF says such a law needs to apply to all entities that handle data, not just retailers. stores.org

Cybersecurity Is The Next Frontier Of State Regulation
Cybersecurity risk pervades all sectors of the economy. Federal regulators have sought to address this risk through guidance, rulemakings and enforcement actions across multiple industries. A series of widely publicized data breaches, the Trump administration's ongoing regulatory review, and an impending executive order on cybersecurity have redirected a spotlight on the merits, disadvantages and pitfalls of regulation in this field. State legislatures and regulators have also moved in this area. In some instances, state rules apply to specific sectors; the New York Department of Financial Services' (DFS) recently issued regulations targeting the financial and insurance industries. More than a dozen other states have enacted cybersecurity requirements that sweep far broader, in some cases touching millions of individuals and businesses.

Currently, no common policy or legal framework fully unifies these disparate efforts. Members of the private sector have argued that inconsistencies across state data breach notification laws affect business performance, confuse consumers and generate perverse litigation incentives. Businesses large and small (as well as individuals in some cases) now confront a similar regulatory paradigm in the context of enterprise-facing requirements: a confusing patchwork of obligations to implement cybersecurity programs. law360.com

Paying the WannaCry ransom will probably get you nothing - Here's why
Last Friday's massive WannaCry ransomware attack means victims around the world are facing a tough question: Should they pay the ransom? Those who do shouldn't expect a quick response -- or any response at all. Even after payment, the ransomware doesn't automatically release your computer and decrypt your files, according to security researchers.

Instead, victims have to wait and hope WannaCry's developers will remotely free the hostage computer over the internet. It's a process that's entirely manual and contains a serious flaw: The hackers have no way to prove who paid off the ransom. csoonline.com

Introducing...  IntelliGuard 360

Amazon Goes North, Forcing Canada's Retailers Out of Hibernation
Canadian retailers are getting serious about selling stuff over the internet. You can thank Amazon.com Inc. for that.

After years in which e-commerce seemed like an afterthought for many Canadian stores, more and more retailers are making the pricey investments in online shopping platforms that are needed to attend to a vast and sparely populated country. As Amazon steadily ramps up its own operations in Canada, local rivals are scrambling to avoid the same sort of fate that doomed many of their counterparts south of the border.

"They can look at what's happening in the U.S., they can look at what's happening in other markets, and almost get a road map of realizing, 'This is going to happen to me too if I don't change my practices,'"

Retailers have a lot of catching up to do. Canadians spent $26.6 billion shopping online last year, or about $730 per capita, according to researcher eMarketer and Bloomberg calculations. That's far off from the $1,230 that U.S. consumers spent on average, and it masks a quirk in Canada's e-commerce network.  bloomberg.com

Service Station Pre-Payment Legislation Being Pushed in Alberta
Prevent Dangerous Gas-and-Dash Incidents
B.C. remains the only Canadian jurisdiction to legislate the practise, even after the 2015 death of Calgary attendant Maryam Rashidi, who was killed trying to stop a gasoline thief, and the serious injury last month in a similar incident in Sherwood Park.

The province has been in consultations with union and industry groups targeting retail workers' safety, but there's no pump pre-pay legislation on the horizon, said Alberta Labour spokesman Trent Bancarz.

"We certainly have had a number of those types of incidents in gas stations," said Bancarz.

"There are certainly some very vocal groups lobbying against this legislation but I still don't understand how they can justify their position."

Following Rashidi's death, the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police urged the province to adopt the B.C.-style legislation. calgaryherald.com

Bell apologizes to customers after data breach hits 1.9 million e-mail addresses
BCE Inc.'s Bell Canada has issued an apology to customers after it said nearly 1.9 million customer e-mail addresses and 1,700 names and phone numbers were illegally accessed - while an anonymous note posted online threatens that "more will leak" if the telecom company doesn't co-operate with the group or individual claiming responsibility for the breach.

Bell says that the attacks were not related to the "WannaCry" ransomware attack that spread across the globe late last week.

While the Bell breach was not connected to the broader attack, digital security breaches have become increasingly rampant in Canada and around the world, prompting many companies and security experts to encourage consumers to regularly change passwords and be vigilant in online activities. theglobeandmail.com

MINISO Launches Aggressive 500 Store Canadian Expansion
Chinese variety retailer MINISO, which positions itself as a 'Japanese lifestyle brand', has big plans for Canada. The company opened its first Canadian store in Vancouver last month, and it could eventually operate as many as 500 stores in Canada, according to a representative. MINISO is a value-priced retailer that might be classified as a variety store, specializing in household and consumer goods that include cosmetics, stationery, toys and kitchenware.  retail-insider.com

Register Now: Security Summit Canada Coming Next Month
If you make your living in Canada's security industry, don't miss Security Summit Canada this June. The inaugural Summit leaves no stone unturned - touching on hot button issues in video surveillance, the power of integration, a security market forecast with John Mack, and even a presentation on President Donald Trump's influence north of the border.

A unique security conference, Security Summit Canada is presented by Canadian Security and SP&T News, and brings together security professionals to learn, network and work together to map out the future of Canada's security industry. The inaugural event runs June 14-15, 2017, in Toronto. securitysummitcanada

Canadian grocers narrowing gap with big U.S. chains Costco & Walmart

Canadian Tire aims to grow through e-commerce

Some Starbucks in Canada go cash only after payment systems crash

Update: Calgary officer justified in shooting man with machete at Marlborough Mall
A Calgary police officer was justified in the non-fatal shooting of a 24-year-old man who attacked him with a machete in 2016, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team has ruled.

Police were called to Marlborough Mall in northeast Calgary on the afternoon Sept. 17, 2016, for reports of a fight. One man ran away carrying what looked to be a stick. The first officer on scene saw a man matching the description run into a Sears store and gave chase. The officer fired his stun gun, but it had no effect on the man, who then pulled a machete and hit the officer several times.

Despite being seriously wounded, the officer was able to draw his gun and shoot the man three times. In her ruling released Monday, ASIRT executive director Susan Hughson said "it is possible - if not likely - that the officer's use of his sidearm saved his life."  cbc.ca

Montreal, Canada: Jewelry robbery, gunshots prompt mall evacuation
Fourth Fairview jewelry store robbery in 2010
Montreal police are searching for suspects after thieves stole jewelry from The Bay at a local mall in broad daylight.

Police said they received several reports of people claiming to have heard gunshots just after 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Fairview Mall.

"I heard a big boom and then I was like 'Did someone fall? What happened?'" witness Roxanne Paquette told CTV Montreal. "I just heard everyone screaming and I was like, I have to run."

The incident prompted some people to flee the shopping centre. Authorities are still searching for the suspects and have not said what items were stolen. Fairview jewelry stores have been targeted in the past; this was the fourth robbery since 2010. ctvnews.ca

Corner Brook, NL: Three arrested, charged with stealing more than $5,000
from jewelry store
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary has charged three people with stealing jewelry from a Corner Brook business.

Police on Friday sought the public's help with the investigation Friday after a business on Broadway reported a theft around 11 a.m. Police at the time released a picture of the suspects, described them as being in their early 20s. On Friday afternoon, Corner Brook RNC announced two 22-year-old men from Ontario and a 16-year-old male from Quebec had been arrested.

All three have been charged with theft over $5,000, and have been held in custody to appear in provincial court at an unspecified date. cbc.ca

Fergus, ON: Woman hits pavement face first trying to steal cartful of Walmart merchandise
Police are searching for a woman who attempted to steal a shopping cart full of items from a Walmart in Fergus, but fell down and ran off empty handed.

Wellington County OPP said the woman was caught on surveillance footage trying to make off with a shopping cart with $651.55 worth of stolen items on April 26. In the footage, she's seen in the parking lot when she falls down, then runs away.

Staff at the store told police they recognized the woman from a theft days before, where a suspect with a similar description took more than $2,400 of product from the Walmart. cbc.ca

Toronto, ON: Hardware thief turns knife on police after being caught
After the suspect was seen bolting across five lanes of traffice, officers pursued the man on foot and eventually cornered him in a nearby truck port. That's when police allege the suspect turned to face the officers and produced a six-inch Benchmark knife. The man held the knife in his right hand and pointed it towards the officers for several minutes but eventually dropped it to the ground. cp24.com

Saskatoon, SK: Rifle aimed at employee during attempted armed robbery

Norfolk County, ON: OPP seek suspect after theft from The Beer Store

Update: Toronto, ON: One arrested, two wanted in Parkdale jewelry store robbery

$1,500 credit card fraud: Indian man's money used by Canadian thief to purchase guitar

Robberies and Burglaries

• The Bay at the Fairview Pointe-Claire - Montreal, QC - Armed Robbery
• Bee Hive Hotel store - Tisdale, SK - Armed Robbery
• Nobleford Food Market - Nobleford, AB - Armed Robbery/fourth time since 2010
• Undisclosed convenience store - Moncton, NB - Armed Robbery
• Undisclosed convenience store - Liverpool, NS - Burglary
• Undisclosed store - Saskatoon, SK - Armed Robbery

Cryptocurrency miner found armed with same exploits as WannaCrypt
Adylkuzz predates ransomware by at least a week - and pays better too
The now infamous Windows vulnerability (MS17-010) exploited by the WannaCrypt ransomware has also been abused to spread another type of malware, specifically a cryptocurrency miner.

Targeted machines are used to mine for the Monero cryptocurrency. Monero is an alternative to Bitcoin recently adopted by the AlphaBay darknet market to trade in drugs, stolen credit cards, and counterfeit goods.

"Once infected through use of the EternalBlue exploit, the cryptocurrency miner Adylkuzz is installed and used to generate cybercash for the attackers," said Robert Holmes, vice president of products at Proofpoint.

Adylkuzz began its campaign on or before 2 May, more than a week before WannaCrypt exploded on to the scene. Indications are that the crooks behind Adylkuzz have generated a lot more money than the WannaCrypt ransomware fiends. theregister.co.uk

US e-commerce posts 14.8% growth in Q1
Ecommerce had another big quarter, as the U.S. Commerce Department reported Tuesday that online retail sales reached $98.06 billion in the first three months of 2017, a 14.8% increase compared with $85.43 billion in the same quarter a year ago.

Total retail sales excluding foodservice reached $1.163 trillion during the three months ended March 31, a 3.7% increase from $1.122 trillion a year ago. That means e-commerce accounted for approximately 8.4% of total retail sales. However, those figures from the Commerce Department include the sale of items not normally bought online, including fuel and automobiles.

Factoring those items out, as well as excluding sales in restaurants and bars, total retail sales reached $792.09 billion in Q1 2017-a 2.1% jump compared with $775.80 billion in Q1 2016, Internet Retailer estimates. This suggests e-commerce sales represented 12.4% of total retail sales in Q1 this year, up more than 1 percentage point compared with 11.1% share in the same quarter of 2016.

Adjusted for seasonal variations, holiday and trading-day differences, the Commerce Department estimates Q1 web sales reached $105.74 billion, up 14.7% from $92.18 billion a year earlier. digitalcommerce360.com

DicksSportingGoods.com posts an 11% gain in web sales in Q1

2017 CNP Expo - May 22-25, 2017 Learn More from Merchants Than Ever Before At CNP Expo, you'll hear from more merchant speakers than ever before, on topics that cover the latest e-commerce trends and techniques to help you combat fraud. Additionally, our educational sessions feature NO VENDOR PITCHES. The CNP Expo is the fastest growing event in the world at the intersection of security, e-commerce, software, mobile, retail and payments. It's a meeting place for our community of merchants, banks, processors, anti-fraud software providers, legal experts, alternative payment providers, card networks and others to learn how to leverage CNP payments in an increasingly multi-channel retail sales environment. And, to form the partnerships this environment requires. For more information, click here

Update: Winnebago County, WI: Suspect accused of stealing over 100,000 Diaper pleads Not Guilty
One of the suspects in the theft of about 100,000 diapers from a diaper bank has plead not guilty to felony theft. John Forbes, 52, of Neenah, was in Winnebago County court Monday morning. Prosecutors say that Forbes, along with 42-year-old Jason Havel of Appleton, stole the diapers from the Fox Cities Diaper Bank in March. Havel was working for at the Valley Packaging warehouse at the time of his arrest. He's scheduled to stand trial next week. The diapers stolen from the Fox Cities Diaper Bank were for babies from low-income families. After hearing about the thousands of diapers stolen in Fox Crossing, Amazon and Huggies each donated 100,000 diapers to that diaper bank. wearegreenbay.com



Jacksonville, FL: $28K worth of iPhones, iPads stolen in Apple store smash-and-grab
Forty iPhones and iPads with a total value of more than $28,000 were stolen during a smash-and-grab burglary early Tuesday (1:45am) morning at the St. Johns Town Center Apple store, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The thieves did $10,000 in damage to the store's doors and window. news4jax.com



Millburn, NJ: 2 arrested in $12,000 Credit Card Fraud at Cartier store
at Short Hills Mall
On May 11, Millburn Police responded to the Cartier store on a credit card fraud report. Cartier personnel report 2 Asian males purchased $12,370.00 worth of jewelry using a stolen credit card. Jie Sun, age 28 out of Flushing, NY, was located and apprehended after a foot pursuit. Mr. Sun was charged with theft by deception, forgery, and possession of a counterfeit government document. Mr. Sun was released with a summons. The incident is under investigation by the Millburn Police Detective Bureau. tapinto.net

Millburn, NJ: Burberry store reports a Grab and Run of nearly $8,000 in merchandise
Police responded to the Burberry store at The Mall at Short Hills on a theft report. Burberry personnel report a black male wearing a black/white baseball cap, black jacket, black jeans, and black/white sneakers took five handbags valued at $7975.00 and ran out of the store. tapinto.net



Lufkin, TX: AT&T Employee stole $4,229 worth of phones, tablets
Lufkin Police arrested Terence Michael Grigsby on Monday in connection to allegations that he set up a dummy account and stole 10 cell phones and tablets with a combined value of $4,229.90 from the AT&T store. The store's manager told police that Grigsby had set up a bogus business account using the name Project X Vapor, which was flagged by AT&T Fraud Services; Project X Vapor doesn't have a legal DBA in the state of Texas. ktre.com



Update: Barrington, RI: Police arrest woman who stole 6 Air Conditioners from Shaw's
According to Police, the thefts occurred at the Shaw's in Barrington on Thursday, April 27th and Wednesday, May 3rd. On at least one occasion, the female suspect was accompanied by a white male suspect. Barrington Police received numerous tips regarding the female suspect, after media reports like ours two weeks ago, reporting on the AC heists. Kerrianne Bettencourt admitted to police she stole the air conditioners and sold them to a stranger. wpri.com

Shootings & Death

Kansas City, MO: 67 yr old Comic Book Store Owner killed in Grab & Run
Police want the public's help to find the white car, a Suzuki Aerio Hatchback, that they say hit Jim Cavanaugh, 67, a local comic book fixture, who then died from his injuries Friday as he tried to stop a robber at his comic book store. Police say that on Friday at about 12:40 p.m., the suspect went into Clint's Comics, grabbed a handful of comics and ran out. Police believe Cavanaugh tried to confront the suspect. The man drove off in the white Suzuki hatchback, striking Cavanagh with the car door as he fled. Cavanaugh fell to the ground and hit his head and died from those injuries. fox4kc.com

Robberies, Thefts & Disturbances

Moundsville, WV: C-Store Armed Robbery story was a lie,
Police arrest employee and 3 others
Law Enforcement spent hours searching for the alleged armed robber, but now they're calling it an "inside job." The previously-thought-of-victim-- the pregnant manager at the Smith Mart in Moundsville will face charges, along with three accomplices. Police have recovered $6,000 in stolen cash. wtov9.com

Charleston, SC: Shoplifter now facing Robbery charges after assault
on Walmart Associate
Rashawn Mitchell, 25, left the store with two iPads and two pairs of Beats by Dre headphones Monday morning. Mitchell asked a store associate to see the items, and then blocked her path and forcefully ripped the merchandise from her arms before running to the grocery entrance of the business. Near the exit, loss prevention officers tried to get the man to give the items back. He refused and threatened their lives, according to the report. Mitchell fled the store but was later arrested. live5news.com



San Bernardino, CA: Naked Shopper Causes Chaos at Stater Bros
Within seconds of the man stripping down naked and pouring bleach all over himself, San Bernardino Police say Stater Bros. Employees surrounded and the store's security tased the man to try to contain him. Some Shoppers say they also tried to help. cbslocal.com



Melbourne, Australia: $13,000 Bike stolen from SwiftCarbon store in Smash & Grab

Zales in the North Park Mall, Joplin, MO reported a Theft on 5/16, items valued at $60,484

Jared the Galleria of Jewelry in the Orchard Corners, Lenexa, KS reported an Armed Robbery on 5/9, items valued at $5,299 // suspect apprehended on 5/12

Credit Card Fraud

Bloomington, MN: 2 in custody for using stolen bank cards, burglary

South Africa: South African Banking Risk Information Centre states Credit Card Fraud up 13% in 2016

Bomb Threat

Rancho Cucamonga, CA: Man jailed suspected of making bomb threat at Living Spaces Furniture

None to report.

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Active listening is absolutely critical if you really expect to influence change or modify behavior. You've got to hear what they're saying before you can plan or expect to do virtually anything. And hearing what they're saying is not simply hearing the words it's all about hearing the meaning and the intentions behind the words. Because words have a tendency to hide the true meanings and beliefs. As truth is often cloaked in humor so is meaning hidden in words. With the number one obstacle being one's self hearing is often drown out by how we want others to view us. So if you can leave your self at the door so to speak you can then begin to focus on hearing what they're saying.

Just a Thought,
Gus