| Although most inventory loss is attributed to
vendor and employee theft, loss due to shoplifting should not be ignored. The following
are red flags that will help you spot shoplifting and cash ploys before it's too late. SHOPLIFTING - RED FLAGS
- Customer looks around a lot (to see who might be watching)
- Customer is wearing a heavy coat (even though the weather
is warm)
- Customer loiters in the store (looking for the right
opportunity to steal)
- Customer creates a diversion (making it easier for someone
else to shoplift)
- Customers enter the store in large numbers (making it
difficult for the cashier to observe them)
CASH PLOYS - RED FLAGS
You should also be aware of "cash" ploys used by
con artists. Here are two common examples:
- Working with a partner, the first con artist enters the
store and buys some merchandise with a "marked" $20.00 bill (a bill with a phone
number or name written on it), The other partner enters the store and pays for merchandise
using a $10.00. When the cashier gives him his change, the con artist insists that he gave
the cashier a $20 bill. As proof, he mentions the number or name written on the bill.
- Working alone or with a partner, the con artist creates
some kind of diversion (for example he tells the cashier that the restroom is flooding)
that will draw the cashier away from the register. While the cashier's attention is
averted, the con artist takes cash from the register or leaves with merchandise from the
store.
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