2017 GLPS - Group LP Selfies
Your Team - Your Pride - Our Industry
Building Industry Pride - One Team Selfie at a Time

Brookstone LP/Ops Team -
Summer 2017 Field Meeting

"KHPH - Keeping Honest People Honest"

Pictured, left to right: Eric Anderson - Director Store Operations & Construction; Devin Engel, LPQ - Senior Manager, DC Loss Prevention & Safety; Marc Lambert, CFI, LPC - Director, Field Loss Prevention; John Arthur - Manager, Store Operations; Ken Boremi, CFI, LPC - VP, Store Operations & Loss Prevention; Jonathan Carroll, LPC, CFI - Sr. Regional Loss Prevention Manager; Daniel Reeves, LPC - District Loss Prevention Manager; Christine Danielson, LPQ - Loss Prevention Operations Manager

Not pictured: Pam Bernier, Jason Brooks, Andrew Drazin, Derek Danielson, Craig Lindsey, Andrea Shiner, Kristina Watson, and Edmundo Velazquez, CFI

The Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF) Announces New President

Matthews, NC (July 17, 2017) - The Loss Prevention Foundation announced that Terry Sullivan, LPC has been named as its next President effective July 24th, 2017. The appointment follows the recently announced retirement of President Gene Smith, LPC. Sullivan, with a long history of success in the loss prevention industry, brings almost 30 years of experience to the Foundation.

"I am extremely excited about having a talent like Terry join the Foundation. His experience and enthusiasm for the Foundation's mission will be tremendous assets for us," stated Frank Johns, LPC and LPF's Chairman of the Board. Johns continued, "Sullivan joins the Foundation after serving most recently as the Director of Loss Prevention Operations for Lowe's Companies, Inc. Terry has held numerous other positions at Lowe's to include Divisional Director of Loss Prevention, Safety & Haz-Mat and Regional Director of Loss Prevention. Prior to Lowe's, Terry served the drug store industry for almost 15 years with Albertson's/Sav-on Drugs and American Stores."

"It's an honor and a privilege to be able to serve The Loss Prevention Foundation and the Loss Prevention/Asset Protection profession. I am looking forward to leading the continued progress of the Foundation and working with the Foundation's board to deliver world class educational resources." stated Sullivan.

Sullivan will be responsible for overseeing the administration, revenue generation, marketing, strategic planning, industry outreach and all programs of the organization, including the internationally sanctioned LPQ and LPC certifications.

TUESDAY: NRF to Host Vice President Pence at Retail Summit
Watch Vice President, Mike Pence, live at Retail Advocates Summit
On Tuesday, July 18 at 10:00 am ET, the 48th Vice President of the United States will speak at NRF's Retail Advocates Summit. Mark your calendars and tune in here for a YouTube livestream from the event.

This event is an important way for retailers to make a difference!

The Retail Advocates Summit rallies retailers of all sizes - national and local brands - to come to Washington to advocate for issues that are critical to a thriving retail industry.

One of the best ways to reach decision makers is speaking directly with them in person. The Retail Advocates Summit is a platform to do just that. We schedule meetings with your elected officials for you; we educate you on the full spectrum of issues that are most pressing to retailers today. You get to make great connections and make a difference in the future of our industry. nrf.com

Signet Names First Female CEO in Wake of Harassment Claims
Current CEO, Mark Light, is retiring after 35 years with the company
Signet Jewelers Ltd. has tapped Virginia Drosos as its new chief executive officer in the wake of highly publicized sexual harassment claims implicating executives. Board chairman Todd Stitzer said Light has decided to retire "due to health reasons."

The jewelry company has lately been seeing sales decline, and its stock fell 1.7 percent to $58.88 Monday morning. In recent months, the stock has been trading at levels not seen since 2013.

The ceo change comes about three months after Signet tapped Barbara Jones, a former federal judge with the Southern District of New York and a current partner with Bracewell LLP, to carry out a "thorough review" of Signet's corporate policies surrounding equal opportunity and workplace expectations.

When asked if Light's departure was related to the review, a company spokesman only reiterated that Light's retirement is due to "health reasons."

The review stems from declarations made in 2013 by about 250 male and female workers of Sterling that recounted numerous instances of sexual harassment by managers and executives.

The statements were made as part of ongoing arbitration accusing Sterling of denying women higher pay and promotions.

Although the declarations were under seal until February, The Washington Post revealed detailed accounts by female former Signet employees involved in the arbitration of incidents in the Nineties and early Aughts when they witnessed others being, or were themselves subject to being, "groped, demeaned and urged to sexually cater to their bosses to stay employed," among other incidents.

A group of women initially filed suit in 2008 against Sterling in New York federal court, but the case was moved to arbitration as a result of employment agreements.

While Signet has stressed that the arbitration, which includes approximately 69,000 female employees, does not currently include any formal claims of harassment, it's nevertheless denied the claims and pointed to the company's decades-old policies against harassment and discrimination.

In late March a group of investors sued the company, claiming it's done little beyond "deny and downplay" the allegations until they received public attention after the declarations were released. wwd.com

Nike Corp. Sr. Account Executive Indicted Federal Fraud Charges
Passing Huge Discounts to Two Retailers he Co-Owned in St. Louis
A fired Nike executive has been indicted on federal charges, accused of defrauding his former employer by using its software to grant two outside companies he operated much higher discounts than the sportswear giant allowed for even its best wholesale customers.

David Reichert worked for Nike for nearly 15 years as a sale account executive in its wholesale apparel division. While employed at Nike, Reichert operated two outside athletic apparel companies, both based in St. Louis, Missouri.

Reichert was able to override the default discount on orders that he entered for his own two businesses, and issue much larger discount ranging from 25 to 65 percent off- five to 10 times greater than the discounts Nike "allowed for even its best wholesale customers,'' the indictment alleges. Reichert's athletic apparel businesses were called JJL and Fan-a-Mania. oregonlive.com
 
Two people hacked to death, nine injured in meat cleaver attack in Walmart store in Shenzhen, China
Two people were hacked to death and another nine injured by a man wielding a meat cleaver inside a Walmart store in China's southern manufacturing hub of Shenzhen, police in the city's Bao'an district said.

A 30-year-old unemployed man was detained as a suspect in the Sunday night attack, police said in an online statement on Monday.

Firearms are largely unobtainable for ordinary Chinese, and such attacks are more often carried out with knives or homemade explosives.

Sales of knives have faced stricter regulations following high-profile attacks, some of which have targeted children at or just outside kindergartens and elementary schools.

Perpetrators of most past attacks have been described as being mentally ill or bearing grudges against society, with social dislocation and a lack of resources for diagnosing and treating such conditions contributing to the problem, experts say.

In one of the most horrific recent attacks, eight people were killed when a 22-year-old man detonated a homemade bomb at the front gate of a kindergarten in eastern China.

Walmart had 439 stores in 189 Chinese cities by the end of 2016 and has been operating in China for 20+ years. Warning: Video contains graphic images. news.com.au

Shuttered Retail Spaces Can Lead to Increased Crime
While Operational Stores Help Communities Reduce Crime & Theft
A June 2017 Harvard Business Review study finds that shuttered retail spaces can lead to an increase in crime and theft in their immediate vicinity. However, an operational store can provide communities roughly $30,000 annually in social benefits by reducing crime and theft, the study estimates.

The study, led by Tom Y. Chang and Mireille Jacobson, examines the effect sudden closures of medical marijuana dispensaries and restaurants in Los Angeles had on their surrounding neighborhoods. These locations were chosen because Los Angeles had closed roughly two-thirds of its dispensaries in 2010, and restaurants can be closed immediately following a serious health code violation, allowing for a sampling of different businesses that extended across the city, according to the researchers.

The increased foot traffic that operational small businesses present can be a natural deterrent to crime and theft, according to the study. Foot traffic can serve as natural "eyes upon the street," a term coined by Jane Jacobs in her 1961 work, The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

In order to test their theory, the researchers developed "walk scores" of areas across Los Angeles. The scores attempted to measure an area's walkability, taking into account the number of nearby businesses that draw customers and increase foot traffic. The study's researchers theorized that businesses that closed in areas with a high walk score would have a small impact on crime, while stores that closed in a low walk score area would have a large impact on crime. Their findings confirmed this theory. hardwareretailing.com

Walmart - Publix - Kroger - Lowe's Make Top 15
Employers With Most Reported Severe Injuries
In 2015, OSHA began requiring employers to report when workers get "severely injured. OSHA classifies an injury as "severe" when a worker suffers an amputation, the loss of an eye, or an injury that leads to the worker being hospitalized for at least one night. This data sheds new light on which jobs are more hazardous.

From the beginning of 2015 through the end of 2016, the United States Postal Service reported 395 severe injuries, the most of any employer. Behind it was Walmart, with 155 severe injuries and the United Parcel Service with 136. No other employer during that time period had more than 75.

Ranking: #2 Walmart, #5 Publix, # 9 Kroger, # 11 Lowes
Ranking per 100,000 employees: #6 Publix, #12 Lowes, #14 Kroger, # 15 Walmart theoutline.com

IAI Announces Membership Drawing Winner, Ralph Lauren AP Team
The International Association of Interviewers (IAI) is proud to announce the winner of the IAI membership drawing to Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lauren has always stood for providing quality products, creating worlds and inviting people to take part in the Ralph Lauren dream.

"Chris Hinger, LPC, Vice President of Asset Protection-North America, won the IAI membership drawing for his Ralph Lauren team. They have won up to 100 IAI memberships ($7,500.00 value) to give to their loss prevention, human resources, and/or audit teams," said Wayne Hoover, CFI, IAI Executive Director. "We'd like to congratulate Chris and his team on their decision to join other elite IAI members in enhancing and sustaining their most valuable interviewing skills."


International Association of Interviewers (IAI) Membership Benefits
IAI membership delivers benefits that help its members make a real difference in the lives of others. An IAI membership includes: Free IAI webinars, online interview support through a customized rationalization matrix, interview mapping, discounts on Wicklander & Zulawski conferences, seminars, books, self-studies, and more. To see the full list of the IAI membership benefits, visit: certifiedinterviewer.com.

Third Annual 2017 Cargo Theft Summit - Southern California
August 22 and 23, 2017
Join us for the 3rd annual Cargo Theft Summit hosted by Travelers Insurance and National Insurance Crime Bureau. The Cargo Theft Summit provides an important opportunity for law enforcement, insurance, and private industry personnel to gain insight into local and national cargo theft issues. The Summit offers training and networking opportunities to provide a collaborative effort to detect and deter theft.

If you have questions on this event, please contact Scott Cornell, Travelers Insurance, scornel1@travelers.com, 602-690-4286 or Gabe Marquez, NICB, gmarquez@nicb.org, 626-622-3671. internapcdn.net

Amazon Settles Job Applicant's Background Check Suit
Criminal Convictions Mistakenly Listed - Never Reevaluated
A man denied a job at Amazon.com based on an allegedly inaccurate background check has reached a settlement with the online retailer to resolve his proposed class action alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Feldstein's 2015 suit alleged that shortly after interviewing with Amazon in April of that year, he received a contingent offer of employment, which he accepted. The next month, Amazon emailed him to say it was in the process of reviewing a background report from Accurate Background Inc., according to the complaint.

The report listed convictions he had never received, which caused Amazon to stop the application process. He didn't find out until he logged into Amazon's online application portal, Feldstein alleged.

The e-retailer responded to his inquires at the end of May 2015 confirming that the background check had failed its requirements, but didn't include a copy or a statement of his rights under the FCRA, according to the suit.

The applicant disputed the report directly with Accurate Background and secured confirmation that it had been corrected. But when he notified Amazon, he was told that his application had already expired, Feldstein claimed.

The primary reason Congress enacted the subsection of the FCRA that requires notification before taking any adverse action based on a "consumer report" is to allow the consumer time to review the report and dispute any inaccurate information or discuss it with a potential employer, Feldstein contended. law360.com
 
Sears CEO Loans Company $200M Through His Hedge Fund
Over the past two years, Lampert and his hedge fund have loaned Sears more than $1.6 billion to keep the business in operation.

The company has also been raising money by closing hundreds of stores and selling off real estate. The company has announced more than 300 store closures so far this year. The closings will bring Sears' store count to less than 1,140, down from 2,073 five years ago.

In the most recent quarter, Sears' sales overall tumbled more than 20% to $4.3 billion, which the company blamed on store closures and declining sales at its stores open at least a year. Same-store sales plunged 12.4% at Sears stores and dropped 11.2% at Kmart stores. businessinsider.com

Editor's Note: Sounds to me like he's loaning money to buy holiday goods, to get the stores merchandise to sell for the holidays. Just a thought.

US restaurant workers seek ban on surprise scheduling
New York recently became the largest U.S. city to require fast-food restaurants to schedule workers at least two weeks in advance, or pay them extra for changes. Nationwide, the issue of scheduling is becoming a new battleground in the fight to boost living standards for low-paid workers, waged largely by the "Fight for $15" movement. cnbc.com

Just an FYI
Flash Mob Of 500 Teens Confront Philly Police Sunday Night in Germantown
More than 500 teens in a flash mob confronted police outside the Lonnie Young Recreation Center in Germantown Sunday night. Police say it all began a little bit after 6 p.m. When officers arrived, they found the large crowd on the sidewalk and in the street, as most were estimated to be between 12 and 17-years-old.

Officers said glass bottles were thrown at them. Publicly available videos on social media show the teens surrounding officers in their vehicles, hopping on top of cars and generally taunting police. Police commanders made the decision not to make any arrests, as to not escalate the situation, and the crowd disbursed within in few hours. cbslocal.com

70-year-old veteran fired from Home Depot after trying to stop shoplifters
A 70-year-old veteran working at a Home Depot store tried to stop shoplifters taking thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, but his attempted intervention cost him his job. Jim Tinney saw three men trying to run out of the store carrying tool sets last month. He said he reacted on reflex and threw a paint roller extension toward one shoplifter's feet. The shoplifters weren't hurt and got away.

Tinney said he thought it was over until two weeks later when he was fired. He admits his training at the store was clear - he should not confront shoplifters.

Stephen Holmes, a spokesman for the company, said the policy is in place for everyone's safety. He described dangerous encounters that have stemmed from employees disregarding policy to confront shoplifting suspects.

Tinney understands that he violated policy, but he believes the punishment doesn't fit.

"I think they could have written me up, reprimanded me, but terminate me? That's pretty strong," he said. "I'm 70 years old. I need to work. I needed that job." abc13.com

Planning for Career Changes in Loss Prevention
True to the nature of their trade, loss prevention professionals are cognizant of how quickly situations can change - including their own careers - and the need to be prepared when it's time for a new opportunity in loss prevention. The four panelists in "Managing Career Transitions: So Who Says Change is Good?" at NRF PROTECT have experienced this firsthand. The group shared personal stories along with advice for loss prevention professionals who are preparing for the future.

Rosamaria Sostilio, now vice president of loss prevention at Barnes & Noble, turned to logical next steps after her position at a previous employer was dissolved - and quickly realized her LinkedIn account was tied to her work email and her resume was a quarter-century out of date.

"During a time like this, your network is more important than your net worth," she said. "Make sure you have a very strong network of solid people who will be there for you when you really need the help." Sostilio participated in weekly group calls that grew organically; she also highlighted the importance of opportunities such as NRF communities to develop a network.

Much like businesses have disaster recovery plans, people need career recovery plans, said Bruce Pyke, vice president of loss prevention and safety at The Bon-Ton Stores. Drawing on his own experiences, Pyke stressed the need for controlling emotions during that tough conversation with HR. "Focus on you," he said.

Noting that changes in leadership can be quite common, Southeastern Grocer's Vice President of Asset Protection Daniel Faketty urged attendees to think about their own accomplishments.

"Save your numbers," he said. "Always be able to articulate what you've done in an organization ... to impact the bottom line."

"Have your elevator speech ready," NRF Vice President of Loss Prevention Robert Moraca agreed: Be ready to reel off numbers and show how you're making a difference. nrf.com

CLEAR - Coalition of Law Enforcement and Retail Rolls Out New Website
BIG NEWS - CLEAR has a BRAND NEW WEBSITE!!!!! Same web address - http://www.clearusa.org/. The best thing is - you can now register for the conference online and pay all at the same time! Last year you could only pay online with PayPal, this year we can use PayPal and also Square - for MC/VISA AmEx Discover.

Please note - when the old website was merged with the new website, many of the passwords did not transfer over. You MAY have to request a password change. clearusa.org

Ascena Retail Group to Eliminate 115 Positions Across All Locations
The company said in a release Thursday, the lay-off is due to new managed service models, which will allow "Ascena to transform its current systems and processes much faster than it could on its own - providing a better, faster, and more cost-effective way of running its business." "Many large organizations of our size are leveraging managed services models for operational support functions to create efficiencies and redeploy resources."

Ascena Retail Group, Inc. recently cut nearly 200 associates, 10 being in Duluth, in June to save around $250-300 million by 2019. They also announced the closure of 5-percent of its stores after a loss of $100 million compared to 2016. fox21online.com

Brides panic as Alfred Angelo closes stores nationwide without warning
Apologizes for 'Inconvenience and Hardship'

True Value reportedly for sale

Ross Stores Opens 28 New Locations; 90 new stores by end of 2017

Trump administration plans week to celebrate American-made goods

Cayman Islands: Security guard acquitted in wrongful confinement case

Last week's #1 article --

CVS Loss Prevention Agent Charged With Murder
Chases down - shoots - kills shoplifter in Dallas
A loss-prevention staffer at a CVS Pharmacy store shot and killed a suspected shoplifter after chasing down his getaway car Sunday afternoon in southeast Dallas, police say. 

Police arrested 36-year-old Julio Ruvalcaba Monday on a murder charge. 

Surveillance video showed Geddes shoplifting from the CVS on South Buckner Boulevard and running to a Toyota Camry in the parking lot and driving away.

Footage from several minutes later shows another person leaving the store and getting into a Chevy Camaro parked outside. CVS employees identified that person as Ruvalcaba, a loss-prevention staffer tasked with reducing shoplifting. dallasnews.com star-telegram.com

eBay seller receives prison sentence for $180k fraud scheme

A La Pine man faces two years in federal prison for a money-laundering and wire fraud scheme on eBay -- but first, the judge will let him finish his community college classes. U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken sentenced Erik William Johnson, 44, on Tuesday to two years in federal prison for money laundering. According to the government's sentencing memorandum, Johnson defrauded 91 eBay customers of over $180,000 in payments for high-end digital cameras he advertised for sale on the online service. Read more here.

For further information on PROACT, email inquiries to PROACT@eBay.com.

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Think a Cyber Attack Can't Affect Your Retailer?
Think Again Why You're Not Engaged
"FedEx Struggles to Bounce Back From Cyberattack"
Customers waiting for packages abroad are experiencing significant delays as FedEx Corp. continues to reel from the effects of a June 27 cyberattack.

The logistics company said Monday in a securities filing that the global cyberattack known as Petya significantly affected the operations of its TNT Express business, which has delivery operations in the Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and South America.

FedEx said while TNT depots, hubs and facilities are operational, it has resorted to manual processes to facilitate a significant portion of operations and customer service functions.

"We cannot estimate when TNT services will be fully restored," the company said.

The company said the cyberattack will have a "material" financial impact on its operations. FedEx said it doesn't have cyber insurance or any other insurance to cover the attack.

FedEx acquired TNT Express BV last year for $4.8 billion, with the deal being the largest acquisition in FedEx's history. The Netherlands-based TNT contributed 12% to FedEx's top line in the prior fiscal year. wsj.com

Visa will pay some merchants to go cashless
The credit card giant has announced a new initiative, called the Visa Cashless Challenge, which will incentivize small merchants to move away from cash payments. Using an application-based format, Visa will award approximately $10,000 each to 50 eligible U.S.-based small business food service owners, including food truck owners.

According to a report by Business Insider, Visa will give the merchants the money to upgrade their payment technology. In turn, the winning merchants must pledge to limit or remove cash payments. chainstoreage.com

Stores in the EU?
The High Costs of the EU's GDPR Compliance
How Does It Impact US Privacy Regulations?
Looming, increasingly strict EU privacy regulations are pushing privacy spending to the top of IT priorities and budgets.

In order to successfully and legally use data for business purposes, companies must comply with a number of state, national, and regional regulations. Recently, it has been the European Union's (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that is occupying the minds of privacy professionals. In less than a year's time, GDPR, the most sweeping change to data protection in the past 20 years, will go into effect and its impact will be felt by every organization that does business in the EU, or handles personal information of EU citizens in any manner.

To understand the status of US companies' efforts to meet privacy mandates in general, and in particular, to meet the May 25, 2018 GDPR deadline Dimensional Research conducted a survey among more than 200 privacy professionals this past May.

The Job of Privacy is Getting Harder

For US privacy professionals, their role is becoming more important while the complexity of their job is increasing. Whether or not that means these privacy professionals feel empowered - or up to the challenge - in their roles is an open question. There's a hint of an answer, though, if we look at the help respondents say they need most in order to comply with GDPR. 

GDPR Planning: Urgent & Costly

When asked where privacy professionals need the most help, complying with data privacy requirements, and developing a GDPR plan topped the list at 39%, followed by addressing international data transfers (36%) and meeting regulatory reporting requirements (30%).

A majority of respondents (61%) haven't yet begun implementing their GDPR readiness plan.

To find a solution to their GDPR woes, all of the respondents report that they will invest in resources such as consultants, new hires, and technology to help prepare for next year's May deadline. A full 99% will invest in additional capabilities.

Privacy Spending: 'Significantly' Increasing for Half

Nearly half of all companies surveyed say that their overall spending on managing privacy is significantly increasing, while the other half say their spending on privacy management is becoming slightly larger. And the bigger the company, the bigger the investment:

One in four companies with more than 5,000 employees expect to spend over $1M on GDPR compliance.

Security has dominated the industry for 20 years for good reason, but with increasingly strict regulations forcing rigid compliance, privacy is bubbling to the top of IT priorities and budgets.

This is a clear message that the privacy industry must keep pace with customers' privacy needs, and provide the solutions and approaches to protect consumers' data and their companies' confidential information. darkreading.com

Criminal Activity & Fraud Impacts Location-Based Marketing
Are You Engaged With Your Marketing Teams?
How to clean your dirty data and why quantity isn't a substitute for quality
Dirty data, arising from technical glitches, corrupted data and criminal activity, is a common problem in location-based marketing. Its collection and sale affects 88 percent of companies and leads to a 12 percent revenue loss on average. But brands can protect themselves. They can start by working with partners who take fraud and inaccuracy seriously. They must demand transparency from their vendors by asking how they gather, filter and validate their data. This will help advertisers discern which vendors are worth working with, and in the process build a data landscape where vendors are held accountable.

Alternatively, accountability can be outsourced to third-party validators who carefully assess the accuracy of each campaign and ensure it's reaching the right people. The quality of location verification still lags behind fraud, viewability, and content verification, but if the demand is there then the industry will step up to the mark. By requesting campaign validation, or choosing partners who already work closely with third-party validators, brands will see the quality and availability of location data verification gradually improve. retailcustomerexperience.com

Ashley Madison settles data breach allegations for $11.2M

Checkpoint Systems is a global leader in EAS, High Theft and RFID solutions for the retail industry, encompassing loss prevention and inventory accuracy in a growing omni-channel environment. Stuart Rosenthal, VP of Sales for High-Theft Solutions (also known as Alpha) and Carl Rysdon, VP of Sales for Inventory Control Solutions, which comprises EAS and RFID solutions, tell us how Checkpoint's recent acquisition by CCL Industries will benefit their customers, how their brand has stayed relevant over the years, and what new innovations they're bringing to the LP industry.

Mobile Fraud Is On The Rise As Merchants Show More Confidence
In Mobile Payments
The proportion of merchants, believing that mobile payments are "far riskier" than the standard e-commerce counterpart, has gone down from 13.9% to 7.5% between 2016 and 2017. Similarly, merchants, believing that mobile payments were "somewhat riskier" than e-commerce, also went down from 20.7% in 2016 to 17.6% in 2017. The overwhelming majority of merchants believed that mobile payments were just as risky as the standard web eCommerce (59.9% in 2017 up from 49.2% in 2016).

Consequently, the number of merchants who considered mobile payments to be "less risky" also increased from 9.8% to 15% just in one year.

However, despite this vote of confidence, mobile fraud is on the rise. 39% of merchants in 2017 believe that mobile fraud has increased, up from only 23% in 2016. Consequently, merchants who believe that mobile fraud has decreased has greatly reduced to 6% in 2017, down from 17% in 2016.

This is likely due to the exploded adoptions and increasing the user base of these payment solutions. As a result, greater volume growth has been accompanied by greater instances of fraud. The report's data backs this up, with 29% of merchants believing that mobile fraud has grown proportionally with volume. 21.3% believed that mobile fraud has increased at a greater rate than volume growth, while only 7.7% believed that fraud decreased compared to volume growth. dazeinfo.com

Distil Goes Mobile with Expanded Capabilities of Bot Defense Solution
Ahead of the weekend, MMW learned that Distil Networks - a global leader in bot detection and mitigation - announced Bot Defense for API, a new solution that prevents bots from accessing the API servers that power public-facing websites and mobile applications.

Distil says it now protects these API servers by determining whether a human is using a verified browser or mobile device to gain access.

"Distil goes beyond competing web-only solutions by providing the only comprehensive bot defense platform to protect websites, mobile apps and API servers from advanced persistent bots," the official announcement reads.

Bots are used by competitors, hackers and fraudsters and are the key culprits behind web scraping, brute force attacks, competitive data mining, online fraud, account hijacking, data theft, unauthorized vulnerability scans, spam, digital ad fraud and downtime. Bots vary in volume and sophistication, but all place an increasing burden on IT security and web infrastructure teams and wreak havoc across online operations big and small. mobilemarketingwatch.com

Bitcoin Acceptance Among Retailers Is Low and Getting Lower

Walmart.com Top Online Grocer for Fresh, Jet.com for Packaged

Amazon Files Trademark to Get Into Meal Kits

Polk County, FL: Organized Retail Task Force searching for 2 in theft of thousands from Walmart
The Polk County Sheriff's is asking for the public's help in identifying two people who they say were caught on camera stealing thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from a Walmart in Lake Wales. Video from July 11 shows an unknown duo loading a large hamper tote, pillows and 61 razor blade refill cartridges into a cart. The stolen items are then carted off through the garden center into a parking lot, and then into a red SUV. wfla.com

Monroe, OH: Walmart shoplifter arrested with over $4,000 of electronics
A Toledo man was arrested and two other males, both 20. were seen in connection with taking more than $4,000 in WiFi systems and other equipment from the Walmart store in Monroe. The theft of eight WiFi systems with a total value of about $1,375 and eight routers worth about $2,685 occurred about 3:15 p.m. Thursday. Store security were alerted by staff at Lowe's across the street to be on the lookout for the 3 males who had attempted to steal about $1,000 worth of tile before fleeing the store. bedfordnow.com

Livonia, MI: Police searching for 2 men in connection with metro Detroit
Home Depot theft
Livonia police are asking for the public's help to locate two persons of interest regarding a theft at Home Depot. Police posted on their official Facebook page that the men may have stolen merchandise worth more than $1,000. wxyz.com

Dorset, England: Gang of thieves steal over $1,700 worth of Legos from 3 stores
in a 5 day spree
Stores in Dorset have been targeted by the group, which police believe is made up of two women and two men. A Tesco store in Poole, Dorset, and a nearby Toys R Us were targeted within ten minutes of each other. At the second store, four suspects were seen pushing three carts filled to the brim with Lego before making their getaway. Smyths Toys superstore in Bournemouth also had $785 of Lego taken. In total, the thieves are believed to have nicked stock worth $1,700. A man and woman have been arrested on suspicion of theft. thesun.co.uk 

Shootings & Deaths

Gloucester Township, NJ: Shoplifting suspect killed after fleeing into traffic
A man suspected of shoplifting fled into Route 42 and was struck and killed by a car, State Police said Saturday. At about 3 p.m. Friday, troopers responded to the northbound side of Route 42, for reports of a pedestrian who had been struck by a vehicle. The victim, identified as 25-year-old Donte Bryson, ran into the roadway and was struck by a Blazer traveling north. An investigation revealed that Bryson was attempting to flee the Gloucester Premium Outlets after being suspected of shoplifting. 6abc.com

Grand Junction, CO: 17 yr old Shot and Killed in City Market parking lot
A 17-year-old woman was shot and killed just after midnight Saturday near the City Market. A woman showed up at the store saying her friend had been shot and she was also shot and wounded. The shooting was said to have taken place in the parking lot of the store. The wounded woman told authorities that the suspected shooter had fled the scene, and police later located the suspect and took them into custody. gjsentinel.com

Orlando, FL: One person injured in accidental shooting at the Mall at Millenia
One person suffered a leg injury on Saturday from an accidental discharge of a weapon outside the Mall at Millenia. First responders arrived to the scene about 7:45 p.m. Orlando Police said a woman had a handgun in her purse which accidentally fired a bullet through her purse and hit the victim in the lower left leg. The shooting happened outside the mall, near the Macy's department story. He said the injury was not life-threatening. orlandosentinel.com

Brownsville, TX: Police Officer Accidentally Shoots Himself inside Target
Brownsville Police said an officer from an outside agency accidentally shot himself Saturday afternoon inside Target in Brownsville. The officer was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Brownsville Police said their investigation revealed the shooting was accidental and only the officer was injured. krgv.com

Fights, Robberies & Thefts

Killeen, TX: Riot breaks out at Killeen Mall Food Court, 30-40 involved, 8 arrested
The Killeen Police Department said they got a call at around 6:15 p.m. of a large fight of juveniles and young adults in the food court of the Killeen Mall. Mall security and off duty Killeen officers that were at the mall tried to clear the fight. When that didn't work, they moved them outside to get them off the property.

Upon arrival, officers said some of them dispersed but some of them continued to fight. Witnesses told police that the people fighting had fire arms and that they had heard shots fired, but Killeen Police confirms shots were not fired. A total of 8 people were arrested, 4 adults and 4 juveniles. Officers said they stopped numerous vehicles and recovered two handguns, one which was reported stolen. No major injuries were reported. kxxv.com



San Francisco, CA: Vehicle smashes into Gucci Store, purses stolen
A driver rammed into a Gucci store next to San Francisco's Union Square at 3am Saturday. Footage from the scene captured a portion of a Gucci store boarded up with plywood. The suspect grabbed a bunch of Gucci purses and took off. abc7news.com




Kennewick, WA: Woman accused of hitting WinCo Loss Prev. Agent with car
A WinCo shopper was booked into Benton County jail Sunday morning, accused of failing to stop after hitting a WinCo employee with her car. Employees followed Kelseelee P. Mowbray, 24, into the parking lot, believing she had stolen more than $100 in merchandise from WinCo in Kennewick. Mowbray is accused of hitting both the employee and a parked car as she drove away. She was located by Kennewick police and arrested on suspicion of felony hit and run with an injury and misdemeanor theft, hit and run involving a parked car, and driving with a suspended or revoked license. tri-cityherald.com

Chicago, IL: Gang Enforcement Unit Arrest 1 man in Multiple Cell Phone store Robberies

St. John County, FL: Deputies looking for 4 thieves in connection with a multiple smash-and-grab burglaries

Helzberg Diamonds in the Baybrook Mall, Friendswood, TX reported a Grab & Run on 7/13, items valued at $4,397

Kay Jewelers in the Beachwood Mall, Beachwood, OH reported a Distraction Theft on 7/14, item valued at $7,599

Kay Outlet in the Premium Outlets, Tannersville, PA reported a Burglary on 7/16, items valued at $4,727

Kay Outlet in the Tanger Outlets Houston, Texas City, TX reported a Grab & Run on 7/14, items valued at $8,599

Piercing Pagoda in the Sikes Center, Wichita Falls, TX reported a Distraction Theft on 7/13, items valued at $291

Zales in the Hulen Mall, Ft Worth TX reported a Grab & Run on 7/15, item valued at $6,398

Dubai, UAE: Masked gang arrested following Jewelry Store Armed Robbery; Gang of five stole $816,000 worth of merchandise

Europe horse meat scam: At least 66 people arrested; $23 million per year

Arson & Fire

South Sacramento, CA: Man sprayed Lighter Fluid on Paint cans to start Walmart fire
Customers and employees in the store on Gerber and Elk Grove Florin roads used fire extinguishers to put out the flames. The store was evacuated as the man who started the fire attempted to walk away with what appeared to be a red bag full of goods. Police report they took the man into custody on suspicion of arson. foxnews.com

Counterfeit

Walsall, England: Fake Nike, Adidas, Emporio Armani, Boss, Michael Kors and Stone Island goods seized at Bescot Market

Abu Dhabi, UAE: The Department of Economic Development (DED) in Abu Dhabi has seized 6,230 fake and counterfeit shoes, bags and leather goods during a series of raids

Joseph Lappine named National Task Force Regional Investigations Manager for TJX Companies.

Mike Beckley promoted to Regional Loss Prevention Manager for Hudson Group

Ryan Bedford named Market Investigator for JCPenney 

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When giving references it is best not to comment on someone if you haven't worked directly with them. Passing on third party information can be extremely detrimental to the employer and the job seeker. If an employer is going to the extent of conducting references and is considering making an investment in an executive than the process warrants direct information that can help both the employer and the job seeker in reaching their decisions. And as most know third party information is extremely unreliable and can cause both parties to make mistakes.

Just a Thought,
Gus

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