Help Sherwin-Williams Director of LP Bryan Hajek raise money
for childhood cancer research!
Bryan Hajek is shaving his head to raise money for childhood cancer research! Did you know that kids' cancers are different from adult cancers? It's true. And childhood cancer research is extremely underfunded. So Bryan decided to do something about it by raising money for cures.

Now he needs your help! Will you make a donation? Every dollar makes a difference for the thousands of infants, children, teens, and young adults fighting childhood cancers.

Please help Bryan reach his fundraising goal of $6,000.00 and he'll shave his head again (this is his fourth year), but if you help him raise $8,000.00, he will shave his beard. If you help him reach $10,000.00, he'll shave his head and all facial hair. Learn more here: stbaldricks.org

Tyco Retail Solutions Helps Retailers Protect More of What's in Store
With Over 63 Billion Items "Retail-Ready"
Tyco Retail Solutions today announced it has surpassed 63 billion consumer products source tagged to date, helping retailers protect more of what's in store. Setting a retail industry milestone with Sensormatic merchandise source tagging, the program has also achieved seven years of consecutive growth since 2011. Tyco's program is the largest in the industry, assisting the world's top retailers to secure the most popular consumer and apparel items. Additionally, source tagging can help reduce shrink by standardizing product-level protection, while safeguarding virtually every product category. Read more in today's Vendor Spotlight column below.

"Transnational Organized Crime - Tied Directly to Terrorism"
"Expanding Dramatically" in U.S. From Latin America
MS-13 Sending More Violent Offenders - Enforcers to U.S. Intentionally
In Congressional testimony on Jan. 18th both ICE, International Operations, Asst Dir in Charge of 'TOC', Richard Villanueva and his FBI counterpart Stephen Richardson both testified on transnational organized crime specifically from Latin America and stated that it's getting worse, growing, and expanding dramatically and that MS-13 is "upset" at ICE and the FBI for the work they're doing breaking up MS-13, and that MS-13 is "planning responses" along with "sending more violent offenders and enforcers" to the U.S.

Of special note is that these two task force groups focus entirely on Latin America only and do not cover or investigate any Russian transnational organized crime or cyber activity.

NYC Gangs Have Evolved With the Times
America's Top Cop On Intelligence & Counterterrorism
John Miller, NYPD's Deputy Commissioner on Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism said at The Daily's Live in NYC event on Jan. 16th that while they used to find drugs, guns, and cash when they busted gangs, they now find fake credit cards, cloning & skimming equipment, guns and cash. Showing that the gangs are evolving with the times and hitting the low risks high reward crimes that we're seeing across the nation as ID theft has become the #1 crime not just in the U.S. but worldwide.

Meaning that the nation's retailers are heavily integrated in the crime cycle more so now than ever before.

John recognized the new Metro ORC efforts and was also part of former NYPD and LAPD Commissioner Bratton's roll-out and funding of the LAPD's first ORC effort back in 2005, so he had a unique front row seat to what everyone has been involved with and had to deal with as this problem has continued to grow.

Following Walmart's Security-Related Lawsuit,
Women of Color Speak Out About Beauty Discrimination
Racial Profiling in Merchandise Protection Standards
On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that a California woman had filed a lawsuit against Walmart on the grounds of racial discrimination. The woman, Essie Grundy, alleged that the company had violated her civil rights by keeping African-American personal care products locked up in a glass anti-theft case. Meanwhile, she claims similar products not geared toward women of color were easily accessible and did not require employee assistance to buy.

In her official statement, Grundy recounted how she felt "angry, sad, frustrated, and humiliated all at the same time," while trying to purchase beauty products three different times this past month-the last of which, she says, included a $0.48 comb. On her third visit to the store, she says an employee accompanied her to the cash register where she wasn't permitted to hold the comb on her own until she had paid for it.

Grundy's suit, filed last Friday by women's rights lawyer Gloria Allred, refers to California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, a law that prohibits businesses from discriminating against customers on account of their race. Allred told Glamour that keeping products marketed to a specific race under lock and key, regardless of security concerns, is unlawful. "Essie has no criminal history, she has no intention to steal anything. The fact that she should be treated as a potential criminal is just wrong."

Walmart issued Glamour the following statement regarding the lawsuit:

We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind at Walmart. We serve more than 140 million customers weekly, crossing all demographics, and are focused on meeting their needs while providing the best shopping experience at each store.

We're sensitive to this situation and also understand, like other retailers, that some products such as electronics, automotive, cosmetics and other personal care products are subject to additional security. Those determinations are made on a store-by-store basis using data supporting the need for the heightened measures. While we've yet to review a complaint, we take this situation seriously and look forward to addressing it with the court.

Glamour also spoke with Charles Crowson, Senior Manager of Corporate Communications for Walmart, for further clarification on the retailer's loss prevention policies. "You can go to one store and see a variety of items that might be subject to additional security behind glass, and then you can go to a store 10 miles down the road and see completely different items behind the glass," he told Glamour. Some of those high-risk items, he says, may include fishing gear, cosmetics, personal contraceptives, or razors. "It's not specific to any one demo versus another," says Crowson. "It's a result of what the data returns." glamour.com

Old Navy fires 3 Iowa employees after viral Facebook post alleging racial profiling
Old Navy has fired three employees involved in the incident that led a man to say he was racially profiled at the store's Jordan Creek location in Iowa.

James Conley III, 29, shared a series of videos on Facebook Tuesday showing a West Des Moines Old Navy employee accusing him of stealing a jacket, sparking outrage. The post - and Conley's reaction - has been shared more than 148,000 times on Facebook as of Saturday evening.

In a Saturday post on the company's Facebook page, the store apologized to Conley by name.

"The situation was a violation of our policies and values, and we apologize to both Mr. Conley and to those we've disappointed," read the post. "All of our customers deserve to be treated with respect."

Conley interacted with several employees during the incident. One was a store supervisor, who checked the security camera footage to verify that the jacket belonged to Conley. According to the post, three employees involved were fired after a "thorough investigation."

After the post went viral Tuesday, the West Des Moines store was closed Wednesday.

Gap Inc., which owns Old Navy, says in its customer bill of rights, published at Gapinc.com, that "profiling is an unacceptable practice and will not be tolerated." desmoinesregister.com

Virgin Islands: Home Depot destroys 1M pounds of supplies in wake of hurricane
A trip along the winding mountain countryside in Saint Thomas reveals scenes that are not scattered across network news shows anymore. Tarps cover the homes of people fortunate enough to have a promise of federal aid. Music equipment that used to amplify voices from a Sunday morning choir dangles from a church ceiling. A visitor can look straight through it, like a dollhouse. Vehicles with drowned engines remain parked along random roadways, power lines are entangled and personal belonging are piled up waiting for pickup.

So for many on the island, Home Depot's decision to destroy its entire stock of merchandise following Hurricanes Irma and Maria - rather than give it to those in need - seemed especially cruel.

The company crushed one million pounds worth of goods, according to Waste Management records obtained by Channel 2 Action News. They were sent to a local landfill and claimed on the company's insurance - rather than sorted for hurricane survivors.

The company doesn't dispute the destruction but, citing liability concerns, insisted to Channel 2 Action News that no other options were available. wsbtv.com

Know Before You Hire: 2018 Employment Screening Trends
Employers faced a wave of class-action lawsuits alleging technical violations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)-like failure to provide notice to applicants in a stand-alone format and getting written permission before running a background check-in 2017.

That's even after the 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Spokeo v. Robins holding that plaintiffs must prove "concrete injury" in class-action lawsuits under the FCRA.

The Supreme Court stated in its opinion that plaintiffs could not allege procedural violations, "divorced from any concrete harm," which requires an injury to be "actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical."

"It's important to understand that Spokeo established a threshold, but not a barrier to litigation." shrm.com

Retail Industry Leaders Association's (R)Tech Center for Innovation and Shoptalk Partner on Shoptalk 2018
Today the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), the trade association of the world's largest and most innovative retail companies, and Shoptalk, organizer of the world's largest conference for retail and ecommerce, announced their continued partnership to focus on creating a global community and conversation for retail and ecommerce innovation. RILA's premier initiative, the (R)Tech Center for Innovation, launched at last year's Shoptalk, will integrate several features into this year's Shoptalk to be held on March 18-21 at the Venetian in Las Vegas. prnewswire.com

Johnson Controls Software House C●CURE 9000 Secures
Florida Atlantic University (FAU) College of Medicine
Johnson Controls has announced that Florida Atlantic University, based in Boca Raton, Fla., has selected the Software House C●CURE 9000 security and event management platform to secure a new building that is part of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, a facility which houses research, administration, and a medical clinic. tycosecurityproducts.com

Philadelphia fans set fire, damage property after Super Bowl win
The Philadelphia Eagles' first Super Bowl victory set off rowdy celebrations in Philadelphia as people who poured into the streets set at least one fire and damaged property early on Monday, images on social media showed.

Police in riot gear and on bicycles formed lines to control crowds and push people back, social media images showed.

Some people broke a display window at a department store near City Hall, and looters broke into a convenience store, grabbing merchandise and screaming, "Everything is free," Philly.com reported.

Over in Amherst, Ma., State and University of Massachusetts police had more trouble as about 2,000 people flooded the streets near UMass Amherst and began throwing objects, setting off smoke bombs, fireworks and starting fistfights. The Boston Globe reported a number of injuries and that at least six people were arrested as police used pepper spray to disperse the angry fans. reuters.com

#SuperSickMonday
Is Your Workplace Looking Empty the Morning After the Super Bowl?
An estimated 14 million U.S. workers were expected to call in ill this morning because they watched the Super Bowl showdown between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles. And that number might be higher if workers chased that by watching a much-anticipated and emotional episode of the hit TV show "This is Us." The episode, which aired immediately after the Super Bowl, promised to reveal the tragic fate of the show's beloved Jack Pearson.

Could that powerful lineup be the final push the nation needs to make the post-game Monday a paid holiday? Probably not, HR experts say. But employers, they say, should embrace the game and the show-and even tolerate Monday absences - as a way to plan for absences and build workplace camaraderie.

"We've been researching the big game's effect on the workforce for more than a decade and, while numbers may fluctuate each year, one clear fact remains: #SuperSickMonday is often the [most popular] day in America for calling out of work," said Joyce Maroney, executive director of The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated. shrm.org

Pilot Flying J Customer Rebate Fraud Trail of 4 Top Execs Heads into Closing Arguments this week

Bon-Ton Stores files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection - Closing 42 Stores

Kroger to sell its convenience stores to UK's EG Group for $2.15 billion


Last week's #1 article --

CEO of sportswear brand Quiksilver missing in sea off France
Search operations resumed Wednesday after an empty boat belonging to the CEO of surfwear brand Quiksilver washed ashore off the coast of southwest France.

Pierre Agnes was reported missing Tuesday after his "beloved" vessel Mascaret III was found on an Atlantic beach at Hossegor, near his hometown of Capbreton, which is located about 20 miles north of Biarritz.

The father-of-three hasn't been seen since going on a regular morning fishing expedition, according to his company. nbcnews.com

A Stafford County man has been charged in an alleged scam in which he purchased Lego construction toys online and returned less valuable pieces to a local store, police said.

Meanwhile, Sheriff's spokeswoman Amanda Vicinanzo said, the more desirable Lego pieces were being sold online under the suspect's account.

Christopher Lee-Edward Taylor, 30, is charged with three felony counts of obtaining money by false pretenses. He was arrested Thursday and released on an unsecured bond. Read more here

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

Tyco Retail Solutions helps retailers protect more of what's in store with over 63 billion items "retail-ready"

Top retailers worldwide rely on Sensormatic merchandise source tagging program to boost sales and reduce shrink

Tyco Retail Solutions today announced it has surpassed 63 billion consumer products source tagged to date, helping retailers protect more of what's in store. Setting a retail industry milestone with Sensormatic merchandise source tagging, the program has also achieved seven years of consecutive growth since 2011. Tyco's program is the largest in the industry, assisting the world's top retailers to secure the most popular consumer and apparel items. Additionally, source tagging can help reduce shrink by standardizing product-level protection, while safeguarding virtually every product category.

The company's program encompasses source application of Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) one-time use labels and reusable hard tags. Today, the majority of Sensormatic labels are applied by product manufacturers or packaging companies at the source instead of in stores. Sensormatic source tagging helps retailers drive sales as merchandise arrives "retail-ready" for immediate placement on the sales floor. The program also enables sales associates to focus on customers instead of the manual application of security tags in-store.

With Tyco Retail Solutions' global presence and data-driven Sensormatic Source Tagging as a Service (STaaS) program, retailers receive cost effective and comprehensive merchandise protection with immediate results through a Tyco-managed collaboration.

See a list of record-setting Sensormatic source tagging milestones here.

"We are proud to partner with leading global retailers and manufacturers in mutually growing the Sensormatic source tagging program," said Tony D'Onofrio, chief customer officer, Tyco Retail Solutions. "With over 50 years pioneering new technologies, Sensormatic is the brand that retailers trust for quality and innovation. Our recirculated RFID-enabled hard tags are gaining momentum with retailers as a cost effective and eco-friendly approach for deploying full scale apparel RFID programs."

For more information, check out additional cost-saving metrics and program milestones here.

Learn more about our Sensormatic source tagging and recirculation program in our infographic.

U.S. consumer protection official puts Equifax probe on ice - sources
Mick Mulvaney, head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has pulled back from a full-scale probe of how Equifax Inc failed to protect the personal data of millions of consumers, according to people familiar with the matter.
 
 Equifax (EFX.N) said in September that hackers stole personal data it had collected on some 143 million Americans. Richard Cordray, then the CFPB director, authorized an investigation that month, said former officials familiar with the probe.
 
But Cordray resigned in November and was replaced by Mulvaney, President Donald Trump's budget chief. The CFPB effort against Equifax has sputtered since then, said several government and industry sources, raising questions about how Mulvaney will police a data-warehousing industry that has enormous sway over how much consumers pay to borrow money.

Editor's Note: Is the White House slowing the momentum? reuters.com

Meanwhile, Experian Hires Rudy Giuliana to Help Win Back Consumer Confidence
On Jan. 11th Rudy Giuliana first appeared as their representative obviously trying to persuade and win back consumer confidence. The opening line says it all. "Identity protection has a new identity.... For sixteen years in cyber security I can tell you...."

That industry has taken a real hit over the last few years especially with the most recent Equifax breach. youtube.com

From Russia With Love
The World's #7 Top Spammer in Conn. Court
Kelihos Botnet Mastermind Facing U.S. Fed Prison
The arrest was made possible after the FBI learned just last April that Peter Yuryevich Levashov, 32, was traveling with his family to Spain from his home in Russia, a country without any extradition treaty to the United States. Working with Spain authorities the FBI picked up Mr. Yuryevich and he appeared in Conn. federal court last week.

As suspected earlier, Levashov, also known as Peter Severa, is the same man who has also been listed in the World's Top 10 Worst Spammers maintained by anti-spam group Spamhaus, which has given him the 7th position in the list.

"Levashov is alleged to have controlled and operated the Kelihos botnet which was used to distribute hundreds of millions of fraudulent e-mails per year, intercept credentials to online and financial accounts belonging to thousands of Americans, and spread ransomware throughout our networks," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan. justice.gov

Cyberattack Impersonates FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center
A new cyberattack scams people into providing personal data and downloading malicious files by impersonating the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a division of the FBI intended to give the public a reliable means of reporting suspected illegal activity online.

The unknown threat actors emailed targets requesting information so they could be paid restitution. To make their messages seem legitimate, they added hyperlinks of news articles reporting on the arrest of Internet fraudsters. Targets received text documents, which contained malware, to download, fill out, and return to the attackers. darkreading.com

Amazon Patents Wristband to Precisely Track Its Warehouse Workers
Warehouse workers often describe high-pressure environments, where a push for maximum efficiency in fulfilling orders keeps breaks short, shifts long and employees constantly aware of their output. Amazon's warehouses are no exception.

Now, in a move that seems to imply an increased desire by Amazon to keep close tabs on its box packers, the ecommerce giant has been granted two patents for a wristband designed to track not only a wearer's location within the warehouse, but the wearer's hand movements as well. entrepreneur.com

How to Ensure Network Connectivity Across Stores
Most stores utilize a vast amount of technologies to keep running smoothly. In order to remain competitive, retailers are embracing mobile, Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to deliver an in-store and customer experience that wasn't possible before.

Whether used to connect modern point of sale (POS) systems, digital signs or kiosks, improving the quality of retail operations requires a deep reliance on network connectivity.

Indeed, a strong Internet connection is an essential lifeline for stores. The days of using a piece of paper to track inventory and mark sales are gone, and more technologies like ATMS and kiosks rely on WiFi to function.

Unfortunately, many occurrences, like damaged lines and system crashes, can instantly take a store or many stores offline if they're all on the same network. These outages can ruin a retailer's bottom line, as analysts calculate that for each minute a POS system is down, it costs retailer $4,700.

Aside from revenue loss, the long-term effect of outages is another concern. Customer wait times for service increase, causing dissatisfaction in service. This in turn can deter new customers from entering the store and old customers from returning. While waiting in line, customers may use social media to express their frustration, which quickly damages a store's reputation.

Retailers have the opportunity to proactively prepare for interrupted network connectivity and avoid the side effects of disconnected connectivity. Retailers need dependable means to ensure the Internet is running across all their stores with uniform solutions, such as:

● LTE router with failover cellular to maximize uptime
● Separate networks to secure data for consumers and retailers
● BYON solution brings connectivity to locations with no fixed-line capability  chainstoreage.com

Can Blockchain Save Struggling Retailers?
First, retailers would be able to take advantage of the efficiency and transparency of blockchain-supported supply chains. Being able to track a good from the factory to the store would allow that retailer to precisely pinpoint where things are going wrong (if they're going wrong). It may also act to reassure consumers by noting the specific region or country where a product originated, and maintaining records of certain quality specifications a product may have undergone during its manufacturing process. This added transparency could be the trick that allows brick-and-mortar retailers to lure consumers away from the impersonal, but often cheaper, internet-based shopping experience.

The other possibility here is that a tethered cryptocurrency could be created and used in place of a current loyalty program to create a value-based rewards system that keeps consumers coming back. In other words, remove the current loyalty programs that can result in adverse errors for a business (e.g., extra rewards handed out to consumers), and implement a virtual coin-based reward that can only be redeemed within a store or chain of stores. madison.com

3 Ways Hackers Steal Your Company's Mobile Data

Why mPOS adoption continues to lag with retailers

Solution Providers: Have a video or commercial you want to publish? Contact us 

Most online retail sites put customers at risk of phishing
Nearly 90% of the root domains operated by top online retailers in the European Union and the United States are putting their brands and consumers at risk of phishing attacks.

This is the main finding of a study based on analysis of 3,300 domains operated by the top 500 EU and 1,000 US online retailers by email analytics and Dmarc compliance firm 250ok.

Phishing and spoofing attacks against consumers are most likely when companies do not have a published sender policy framework (SPF) or domain-based message authentication, reporting and conformance (Dmarc) policy in place.

SPF is an email validation system that detects spoofing attempts, or a third party that disguises itself as a particular sender using a counterfeit email address. Dmarc is an industry standard for email-validation to prevent such attacks, and is being used to protect US and UK government domains.

A 2017 study from the Anti-Phishing Working Group reported that an average of 443 brands per month were targeted for phishing attacks in the first half of 2017, up from 413 per month during the same period in the previous year.

According to the 250ok report, these attacks are a threat to brand trust because 91% of all cyber attacks begin with a phishing email. computerweekly.com

Recognizing the subtle signs that point to possible ad fraud
How can an advertiser know whether actual humans or bots are viewing and clicking on online ads? How can small businesses understand the complex matrix of ad fraud? And, most importantly, how can they stay one step ahead of fraudsters?

The metrics that might seem indicative of "good" performance at first glance can actually be a hotbed for fraud. As a test, we worked with Moat Analytics, a digital advertising analytics and measurement company, to analyze over a million online ad impressions over the course of a month (September 2017) and monitor fraudulent behavior.

In our study, predictably, low-fraud ad groups had a high percentage of actual human impressions. However, we found that the high-fraud ad groups had a higher viewability percentage, which means that fraudsters are getting clever and creating fraud where ad buyers are willing to pay a higher premium for viewable impressions.

Another data point that jumps off the page is that high-fraud ad groups looked to have high in-view time and interaction rates. We can conclude from this that sophisticated fraudster bots are creating faux interactions to mimic real human behavior (e.g., moving the mouse, scrolling a web page). Although their interaction rates are higher, their attention quality, as measured by Moat, is lower than the low-fraud test group. This means that, thankfully, technology is still able to sniff out some fraudster behaviors. marketingland.com

Hudson Group CEO: Our retail business is 'completely insulated' from e-commerce

An 'Iceberg' of Unseen Crimes: Many Cyber Offenses Go Unreported
Utah's chief law enforcement officer was deep in the fight against opioids when he realized that a lack of data on internet sales of Fentanyl was hindering investigations. So the officer, Keith D. Squires, the state's public safety commissioner, created a team of analysts to track and chronicle online distribution patterns of the drug.

In Philadelphia, hidebound ways of confronting iPhone thefts let thrive illicit networks to distribute stolen cellphones. Detectives treated each robbery as an unrelated street crime - known as "apple picking" - rather than a vast scheme with connected channels used by thieves to sell the stolen phones.

And in Nashville, investigators had no meaningful statistics on a nasty new swindle of the digital age: The "cheating husband" email scheme. In it, anonymous extortionists mass email large numbers of men, threatening to unmask their infidelities. The extortionists have no idea if the men have done anything wrong, but enough of them are guilty, it turns out, that some pay up, sometimes with Bitcoin.

Each case demonstrates how the tools used to fight crime and measure crime trends in the United States are outdated. Even as certain kinds of crimes are declining, others are increasing - yet because so many occur online and have no geographic borders, local police departments face new challenges not only fighting them, but keeping track of them. Politicians often tout crime declines without acknowledging the rise of new cyber crimes. nytimes.com

First Reported in the Daily on August 8, 2013
Two Men Sentenced To Prison In International $200 Million Credit Card Fraud Conspiracy
Last of 22 Defendants Convicted and Sentenced
A New York man and a Middlesex County, New Jersey, man were sentenced to today to federal prison terms for their respective roles in one of the largest credit card fraud schemes ever charged by the Justice, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Khan and Verma were originally charged in February 2013 as part of a conspiracy to fabricate more than 7,000 false identities to obtain tens of thousands of credit cards. They are the last of 22 defendants to be sentenced in this scheme.

The scheme involved a three-step process in which the defendants would make up a false identity by creating fraudulent identification documents and a phony credit profile with the major credit bureaus; pump up the credit of the false identity by providing bogus information about that identity's creditworthiness; then borrow or spend as much as they could without repaying the debts. The scheme caused more than $200 million in confirmed losses to businesses and financial institutions.

The scope of the criminal fraud enterprise required the conspirators to construct an elaborate network of false identities. Across the country, the conspirators maintained more than 1,800 "drop addresses," including houses, apartments and post office boxes, which they used as the mailing addresses for the false identities.

Khan admitted he helped obtain credit cards in the name of third parties - many of which were fictional - then directed the credit cards to be mailed to addresses controlled by members of the conspiracy. He also admitted they knew the cards would be used fraudulently at businesses. Verma admitted he effected transactions with access devices issued to another person.

Qaiser Khan, 53, of Valley Stream, New York, previously pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He was sentenced today to six months in prison. Sat Verma, 65, of Iselin, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of access device fraud. He was sentenced to one year in prison. In addition to the prison terms, Judge Thompson sentenced Qaiser to five years of supervised release and fined him $10,000. Verma was sentenced to three years of supervised release, ordered to forfeit $270,000 and fined $1,000.

Editor's Note: These were two of the defendants who cooperated with the prosecution of the other 20 co-conspirators which is why they got off with light sentences. The issue will be keeping them safe while in prison with the other 20 inmates they helped lock-up. justice.gov

12 Member Gang Ringleader Gets 9 yrs in Credit Card Fraud - ID Theft Scheme
Black Market Stolen Numbers Used in Retail Stores For Smuggling Smokes to NYC
According to court documents, Travon Williams, 33, organized and led a conspiracy where over two and a half years, members purchased thousands of stolen credit and debit card numbers from blackmarket websites, encoded those stolen numbers onto fraudulent credit cards, and then used those cards to buy merchandise including gift cards and cartons of cigarettes.

During the conspiracy, the group made hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from selling cigarette cartons to buyers from New York City, who drove down to Northern Virginia to transport the cigarettes. Williams himself obtained $415,000 in proceeds.

Williams is one of 12 defendants who was arrested in this case in August 2017, all of whom have pleaded guilty for their roles in this scheme. Co-defendant Rodriguez Norman has also pleaded guilty to participating in an organized dog-fighting conspiracy. Williams is the sixth defendant to be sentenced, with six more faces sentencing over the next sixty days. justice.gov

New Rochelle, NY: $1 Million in Coins and Jewelry stolen through a hole in the Roof
$1 million worth of jewelry and other merchandise was reportedly smuggled through a hole cut through the roof early Friday morning at New Rochelle Coin Stamp and Jewelers at 20 1/2 Division Street. Amanda Pappas told reporters the store, owned by her father, Tony Silva, was broken into around 4 a.m. and that more than $1 million worth of items were stolen. Pappas said her father has had the business for almost 40 years. theloopny.com

Jersey City, NJ: Man wanted in $80k Newport Mall theft
barricades himself inside home
A man accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from Newport Mall barricaded himself inside a home Saturday morning when police tried to arrest him, officials said. Johnny Nunez, 41, told police he had a gun and was holding people hostage inside the home, city spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said. At about 9 a.m., police were executing an arrest warrant for Nunez, who they allege stole $80,000 worth of merchandise from the Downtown mall on Nov. 23. But when police tried to arrest him, he ran into the home and barricaded himself in the bathroom. Negotiators spent about 90 minutes talking to Nunez before he surrendered. No weapons or hostages were found, she said. nj.com

Redding, CA: Thieves Shipped Stolen Goods to Chile
Camila Fernandez, 25 years, and Paola Jerez-Huerta, 29 years, both from the country of Chile, initially had identified themselves to Redding Police as being from Los Angeles, CA. On the morning of February 2, 2018, Officer Rouland served the warrant and searched the vehicle for additional stolen property and evidence in the case. Officer Rouland's efforts resulted in the recovery of thousands of dollars in suspected stolen merchandise. He also found over $1,600 cash and other property belonging to Bearden. The recovered merchandise included dozens of clothing items with price tags and electronic security devices still attached including 15 pairs of American Eagle jeans. There were 36 bottles of men's and women's fragrances along with 7 Apple iWatches. Additionally, Officer Rouland recovered high end clothing items from companies like Louis Vutton, Burberry and Versace. One pair of recovered Versace shoes alone had a price tag of $1095. anewscafe.com

Harriman, TN: Lowe's Lawn Mower theft suspects arrested after returning
to scene of crime
According to Harriman police, two male suspects were arrested after they returned to the same Lowe's the day after they stole a lawnmower, to steal another lawnmower. On Jan. 25, 2018, two unidentified male suspects stole a John Deere riding mower worth $1,499.99 from a Lowe's in Harriman, TN. Security footage showed them leaving in a green truck with a trailer.

The next day, Jan. 26, 2018, a suspicious activity call was made from Lowe's at 3:15 p.m. Police said the same two male suspects were attempting to steal another lawnmower in the same vehicle. Security footage showed that the suspects had already cut the lock and cable off the back of a John Deere riding mower. local8now.com

Greece, NY: On Jan. 29, multiple suspects stole $929 worth of vacuum cleaners from a store on Bellwood Drive

Shootings & Deaths

East Point, GA: Police fatally shoot Armed Robber of O'Reilly's Auto Parts
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a Saturday release that a man entered an O'Reilly Auto Parts store in East Point, asked for an alternator, then produced a handgun and stole the item on Friday. The release says the man then left the store and attempted to steal a taxi at gunpoint, but the taxi driver sped away.

Atlanta police officers who witnessed the attempted carjacking confronted the man, pursued him and then fatally shot him. According to the GBI, civilian witnesses reported the subject fired at officers, but his handgun was found to be a BB gun. therepublic.com

Wauwatosa, WI: One shot after brothers fight outside Mayfair Mall
Sturday evening around 8:12 Wauwatosa Police were called to a shooting at Mayfair Mall near the north Macy's entrance. When police arrived they learned that two brothers were fighting and during the fight one of the was shot in the leg. Police say it's possible that the brother shot himself since he had a gun in his pocket.
Both brothers were arrested. cbs58.com

Atlanta, GA: Shots fired outside Sweet Auburn Grocery, 1 man wounded

Cleveland, OH: Shootout outside Burger Kings, 1 man wounded

Knoxville, TN: Police respond to shots fired outside C-Store in N. Knoxville, no injuries reported

Nine Indicted by Federal Grand Jury for "Jugging" Robberies - Multiple Violent Robberies in North Texas
The indictment arises out of a series of "jugging" offenses in the Dallas area. "Jugging" is a term informally used to refer to crimes that involve surveilling banks for potential targets suspected of having significant sums of cash and following the targeted victims to other locations where they are robbed. justice.gov

Quincy, IL: McDonald's Robber plead guilty, gets 7.5 years in Prison

Lexington Man Sentenced to 60 Months for Arson of Qdoba Restaurant

Lamont Kortez Gaines, 28, convicted of 3 armed robberies - Advance America in Alexandria & two 7-Eleven stores in Arlington

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This One Skill is Critical to Improving Employee Engagement
Employee engagement at work is steadily declining, with 70% of workers feeling dissatisfied, bored, etc. This should sound the alarm to all leaders to find ways to help your team feel driven, motivated, inspired and really understand their work purpose and intention. Here's the one thing all leaders need to improve engagement. What's your EQ?

5 Things Every Manager Needs to Know About Employee Engagement
Even if you understand the importance of employee engagement in your organization, there are some truths that every manager and leader need to understand. Here are the five things everyone needs to know about employee engagement and how to increase engagement amongst your team. It only takes minutes

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25 Simple Daily Habits that Separate High Achievers From Everyone Else
Everyone wants their life to be above average, but what are we really doing to make it happen? Succeeding in business and in life depends on consistency, discipline and diligence in making it a reality. Here are some habits high-achieving executives say help separate them from everyone else. Take tea breaks

Want to Be a Great Boss? Master the 4 Stages of Leadership
Just as everyone needs to hone their skills to improve their abilities and work performance, so do leaders need to improve their skills so they can ensure their team has reached their full potential and their organization is generating the desired results. Here are four "levels" all leaders must go through to strengthen the chance of success. Develop new leaders

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Having a strategy or a plan about everything you do is important if you expect to win long term. Daily victories are nothing without a long-term plan. They fade quickly and leave the audience expecting more, which only a plan and strategy will satisfy. So after your next victory, ask yourself what am I going to do next?

Just a Thought,
Gus

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