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Identity Theft ORC Ring Hitting St.
Louis, MO
Furniture Dealer, and potentially others
 By
David Groh
Corporate Risk and Loss Prevention Manager
Weekends Only, Inc.
Weekends Only Furniture Inc., a St. Louis,
MO based Furniture retailer, has been the
target of an ORC ring of identity thieves.
The perpetrators were starting with our
on-line pre-approval process for financing
as their means to utilize the stolen
identities. There are many levels it appears
with this operation.
The first step they used was to have an
individual come into the store and select
the product for purchase. They would then
take the list of items and leave without
making any purchase, stating they would come
back later. Next, they would send in another
individual later in that same day, usually
closer to closing time, to use the
pre-approved financing application to
purchase the items previously selected. They
would tear off the top of our form that
would show which sales associate they worked
with and the original name given to the
sales associate. The had very good (brand
new is a clue here) Driver’s Licenses to
match the account. They would then send a
couple of other individuals, usually in a
rented U-Haul truck, to come pick up the
furniture almost immediately.
We have been working with multiple St. Louis
area law enforcement and have arrested a
couple of individuals involved at the lower
levels of the scheme. Based on conversations
with Law Enforcement, Weekends Only is not
the only target in the St. Louis area. As a
potential stop gap, Weekends Only has since
turned off the ability for individuals to
get pre-approval for financing on-line and
customers would have to come in to the store
to get pre-approval. We believe the
individuals stealing the identity most
likely will not want to be seen on cameras,
etc. To this point we believe it has worked.
Dave can be contacted at
dgroh@weekendsonly.com or 314-750-5936
|
Yardsellr.com shuts down, but new Okanjo.com is an
upstart in the online resale market. Okanjo Partners
based in Milwaukee has over $1 million in merchandise
posted by online sellers. This will give the ORC
investigators another alternative to finding those “new
with tag” items for resale. From a quick look at the
site, several ORC suspects may have already found it.
(Source
jsonline.com)
Victoria’s Secret in Gastonia, North
Carolina hit for $2500 in merchandise.
Police are investigating the theft of 200 pairs of
ladies underwear valued at $2500 from the Victoria’s
Secret store in the Westfield Eastfield Mall. The
theft occurred between 6:30 and 7:30pm. No suspect’s
description was available. (Source
wcnc.com)
Identity theft ringleader who hit Walmarts
nationwide to be sentenced today
The man identified by New Hampshire
investigators as the ringleader of a nationwide
identity theft and check counterfeiting ring is
facing up to nine years in prison when sentenced in
federal court. Investigators say he and his
co-conspirator cashed more than $370,000 in bogus
payroll checks at Walmarts nationwide for three
years before being apprehended at the Tanger Outlet
Mall in Tilton in 2011. (Source
boston.com)
|
 Organized
Retail Crime:
Estimated Lost Sales Tax Revenue by State
The Food Marketing Institute has released a
report containing Organized Retail Crime:
Estimated Lost Sales Tax Revenue by State.
Over the next several days the Daily will
publish these figures. Stay tuned to see
your state estimate!
|
State |
Annual Sales - Retail
Trade and Food Services (2009) |
State % of Annual
Retail Sales |
Est. Amount of Stolen
Merchandise Attributed to ORC (by
State) |
State Sales Tax Rates
|
Est. Lost Sales Tax
Revenue Attributed to ORC (by State) |
|
Nevada |
$44,768,400,311 |
1.04% |
$310,825,421 |
6.85% |
$21,291,541 |
| New
Jersey |
$131,206,754,997 |
3.04% |
$910,963,863 |
7.00% |
$63,767,470 |
| New
Mexico |
$27,656,941,284 |
0.64% |
$192,021,166 |
5.13% |
$9,841,085 |
| New
York |
$267,670,577,876 |
6.19% |
$1,858,427,362 |
4.00% |
$74,337,094 |
| North
Carolina |
$128,139,868,648 |
2.97% |
$889,670,579 |
4.75% |
$42,259,353 |
*Note:
States with no state sales tax were
omitted (AK, DE, MT, NH, and OR) |
For more
information on organized retail crime, visit
FMI's issue page.
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