LPF and IAI Announce Strategic Partnership

The Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF) and the International Association of Interviewers (IAI) have joined forces to create a strategic partnership to strengthen continued education for the Loss Prevention/Asset Protection profession. This new partnership will ultimately benefit LPF and IAI by offering additional opportunities for Continuing Education Units (CEUs), networking events, webinars, training days, and more.

The Loss Prevention Foundation, founded in 2006, is the only 501 (c) 6 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the retail loss prevention and asset protection industry. The LPFs mission is to advance the loss prevention profession by providing relevant, convenient, and challenging educational resources. This is accomplished through the administration of the industry's only internationally sanctioned certifications: LPQualified (LPQ) and LPCertified (LPC).

The International Association of Interviewers (IAI) is the only association specifically for Certified Forensic Interviewer (CFI) and ACFI designees as well as all those dedicated to the art of interviewing and interrogation. The IAI mission is to provide educational, business, and networking opportunities to interviewers from all disciplines through valuable resources such as instructive events, useful web content, including the Rationalization Matrix and Interviewing Video Tips, exclusive webinars, and much more. Read More Here


De Blasio admits NYC crime jump is linked to bail reform
Mayor Bill de Blasio linked a recent crime surge in the Big Apple to the state's controversial overhaul of bail laws Friday, after spending a week dancing around the matter.

"We had, for six years, steady decreases in crime across the board. There's not a whole lot of other environmental things that have changed recently," de Blasio told WNYC's Brian Lehrer on new CompStat data that shows crime has soared since the new laws took effect at the start of 2020. "It sort of stands out like a sore thumb that this is the single biggest new thing in the equation and we saw an extraordinary jump."

The controversial law bars judges from setting bail to hold criminal defendants for most misdemeanors and non-violent felonies cases. It's come under intense criticism from law enforcement officials and prosecutors.

De Blasio again reiterated his support for giving the judges the power to lock up defendants they believe are a danger to the public while awaiting trial - a position that's left him at odds with the bail overhaul's top backer, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-The Bronx).

It's a change in tune for City Hall from just Tuesday when de Blasio repeatedly dodged questions about the link between bail laws and a surge in crime stats that show auto thefts, robberies, burglaries, grand larcenies and felony assaults have all shot up since the start of 2020. nypost.com

Bernie Sanders calls for nationwide end to cash bail during Democratic debate
 

Coronavirus Update

Coronavirus Deaths in China Surpass Toll From SARS

900+ people have died from the new virus in China; infections surpass 40,000

The coronavirus death toll in China has risen to 908, surpassing the toll from the SARS epidemic of 2002-3, according to official data.

The number of confirmed infections in the country rose to 40,171, China's National Health Commission said Monday. Ninety-seven deaths and 3,062 new cases were recorded in the preceding 24 hours, most of them in Hubei Province, the heart of the outbreak. A United States citizen died from the coronavirus in Wuhan, the provincial capital, American officials said on Saturday.

The SARS epidemic, which also began in China, killed 774 people worldwide. There have been only two confirmed deaths from the new coronavirus outside mainland China: one in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines.

Many doctors believe that deaths and infections from the current epidemic are undercounted in China because testing facilities are under severe strain. nytimes.com

KFC worker diagnosed with coronavirus in China after 12-hour shift
A fast-food employee in mainland China has been diagnosed with the coronavirus after working a full-day shift last month. The infected staff member worked a 12-hour shift at a KFC store in Xian, Shaanxi province, according to local media reports. The employee worked "at the front desk" on January 12, but their main job was to "prepare meals", China News reported.

KFC is among several US franchises in China that have temporarily closed their restaurants over fears about the spreading virus, which has killed more than 900 people in the mainland.

Yum China, which has exclusive rights to fast-food chains in China, has already closed more than 30 percent of its 9,200 restaurants across the country. nzherald.co.nz

'Caution: I have the coronavirus'
Prank in Joliet, IL Walmart causes $10k in damage, police say
Two teens have been charged after pulling a costly coronavirus prank at a Walmart in Joliet, Illinois, according to police.

Tyler D. Wallace, 19, walked into the Walmart Sunday afternoon wearing a handmade sign on his back that said "Caution I have the coronavirus." Wallace put on a yellow medical mask and began spraying Lysol on products and produce, police say.

Wallace turned himself into police Thursday and was charged with misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct, retail theft and criminal trespass to property. A 17-year-old boy who was in the store with Wallace was arrested on misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and criminal trespass.

Walmart estimates the loss of produce to be over $7,300 and cleanup costing over $2,400, according to police. usatoday.com

Coronavirus echoes in retail:
Companies anticipate "material impact" in revenues

Store closures and sales loss hit international retailers like Nike, Capri and Burberry

Store closures, less trading hours and fewer store traffic. The coronavirus crisis has spread fear within the Chinese population. Companies have taken measures all over the country, one of the largest markets for fashion, and they started to anticipate the "material impact" this can have in their results. However, all of them remain confident that China will remain a solid market and that consumption will resume once the crisis is over.

Nike was one of the first fashion giants that anticipated the impact that the coronavirus crisis can have in its business. Last Wednesday, the group issued a statement saying that it "expected the situation to have a material impact on our operations in Greater China". However, the group also said that "Nike's brand and business momentum with the Chinese consumer remains strong, as reflected in the continued strength of our Nike digital commerce business". The group, that operates stores in the country, has temporarily shut down approximately half of its directly operated stores in China and has been operating with reduced hours in the remaining points of sale.

Capri group, owner of Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo and Versace, has been the group that detailed the most the impact that the crisis will have on its business. With the release of its quarterly results, the company anticipated the situation in China to reduce revenue by approximately 100 million dollars and earnings per share by 0.40 to 0.45 dollars for the fourth quarter and full year. As of February 5, approximately 150 of the 225 stores of the group in Mainland China are closed and the remaining are operating with reduced hours and experiencing a decline in customer traffic.

The latest company to address the impact of the epidemic is Burberry. The group, that derives a significant amount of its revenue in Mainland China, currently has 24 of its 65 stores closed. "This is impacting retail sales both in both Mainland China and Hong Kong", indicated the company in a statement. themds.com

February retail imports to see larger drop amid coronavirus
With coronavirus causing longer Lunar New Year shutdowns of factories in China, imports at major U.S. retail container ports are expected to see a sharper-than-usual drop this month, according to the Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

"February is historically a slow month for imports because of Lunar New Year and the lull between retailers' holiday season and summer, but this is an unusual situation," NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. "Many Chinese factories have already stayed closed longer than usual, and we don't know how soon they will reopen. U.S. retailers were already beginning to shift some sourcing to other countries because of the trade war, but if shutdowns continue, we could see an impact on supply chains." nrf.com

Apple extends its store closures in China due to the coronavirus

WeWork closes 100 buildings in China over coronavirus threat

WHO: $675 million needed for new coronavirus preparedness and response global plan
 

What the CFO's Are Reading:
Don't Discount Secondhand Whistleblower Reports

Research shows: Reports based on Secondhand Information

More Credible than those from Firsthand Knowledge

Which employee whistleblower hotline report would you trust more - one with firsthand knowledge of alleged conduct or one based on secondhand information?

After examining more than 2 million whistleblower reports from more than 1,000 publicly traded U.S. companies, our new study found that secondhand whistleblower reports are almost 50% more likely to be substantiated - in other words, they're 50% more credible - than firsthand reports.

With organizations around the world increasingly adopting risk management mindsets, this is a crucially important, counterintuitive finding. It should turn the heads of company leaders who might have looked askance at secondhand reporting in the past.

Secondhand reports often hold untapped approaches to discover organizational problems, or even prevent problems from happening in the first place.

Why Secondhand Reports Are More Valuable - Dissecting Firsthand & Secondhand Reports - What Are The Take-Aways? A Must Read




Biggest Fraud in History - 150 Yr. Sentence & $170 Billion Restitution

Remember, there's no parole in federal prison. Wikipedia detailed listing

Federal Judge Ask For Victims Input:
'Opportunity For Victim Input To Court In Pending Motion By Bernard L. Madoff For Sentence Reduction'
The motion, which seeks Madoff's immediate release from prison, is based primarily on his various medical conditions. The Government will file a response to Madoff's motion. The Court may also order a public hearing on the motion. A copy of the briefs relating to Madoff's motion for a sentence reduction can be found at: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/madoff-sentence-reduction

If you are a victim of Madoff's crimes and you wish to provide your views to Judge Chin with respect to Madoff's motion for a sentence reduction, you may do so. Please address any such correspondence to the Court, but send the correspondence to the Victim/Witness coordinator for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York by email: justice.gov


Retail Job Losses Impact Women More
With store closings on the rise, scores of U.S. retail workers are losing jobs. Department stores have shed 241,000 employees in the last five years, and clothing stores 67,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So where is the national outcry to protect these workers, asks Time. With the growth of online shopping, retail jobs, which traditionally favor women, are becoming less available while warehouse employment, which tends to favor men, grows.

"We hear politicians talk about the loss of factories and manufacturing and mining, but there has not been the same level of outcry around the loss of retail jobs," says Nicole Mason, the president of the Institute for Women's Policy Research, a think tank based in Washington, D.C.. "I would conjecture that one of the reasons we're not talking about it is that it impacts predominantly women."

Nearly 80 percent of cashiers were women in 2018, according to IWPR data. As online shopping grows, and employment in warehouses grows, retail jobs for women are shrinking, while men's jobs are growing - an IWPR analysis found that the retail industry lost 54,300 jobs between 2016 and 2017; over that time, women lost 160,300 jobs while men gained 106,000. time.com

Home Depot Opens First of 40 Drive-Through Distribution Centers
The Home Depot announced recently that it has opened its first drive-through distribution center, located in Dallas, Texas. Called a flatbed distribution center (FDC) the company's first such facility spans 800,000-square-feet and allows flatbed trucks to drive through the middle of the warehouse and have heavy or over oversized building materials such as lumber, ladders, pipes, or roofing materials added from either side.

Traditionally, Home Depot's distribution centers and retail stores can only accommodate smaller trucks, which would load or unload smaller orders from each location multiple times. The FDC makes that process more efficient. thomasnet.com
 

Simon snaps up Taubman malls for $3.6B

L Brands nears sale of Victoria's Secret to Sycamore Partners

China to slash tariffs by 50% on $75B of US imports

Twin Cities Janitors And Security Guards Authorize Strike

H-E-B gives $100 bills to all its employees for top grocer ranking
 

Last week's #1 article --

HBO doc McMillion$ details bizarre case of Mafia's decade-long $24 million fraud scheme involving McDonald's Monopoly game

6-part documentary series - New episodes debut Mondays at 10:00 pm ET on HBO

Watch LP leader Rob Holm, Director, Global Safety & Security - Global Business Services, McDonalds, in the trailer at the 41-second mark

*OCC - Organized Cyber Crime
It's time to give this crime its own acronym. Especially when you consider ORC. Just a thought.


Equifax: US charges four Chinese military officers over huge hack
The US has charged four Chinese military officers over the huge cyber-attack of credit rating giant Equifax.

More than 147 million Americans were affected in 2017 when hackers stole sensitive personal data including names and addresses. Some UK and Canadian customers were also affected.

Announcing the indictments Attorney General William Barr called the hack "one of the largest data breaches in history".

According to court documents, the four are allegedly members of the People's Liberation Army's 54th Research Institute, a component of the Chinese military. They spent weeks in the company's system, breaking into security networks and stealing personal data, the documents said.

The nine-count indictment also accuses the group of stealing trade secrets including data compilation and database designs.

The whereabouts of the suspects is unknown and it is highly unlikely that they would come to the US for a trial. bbc.com

Cryptocurrency Scams Took in More Than $4 Billion in 2019

Ponzi schemes are the latest form of bitcoin fraud

Cryptocrime is expanding. Ponzi schemes and other frauds involving bitcoin and cryptocurrencies lured at least $4.3 billion from investors in 2019, according to Chainalysis. That was a bigger haul than the combined $3 billion in 2017 and 2018.

After a boom in dubious initial coin offerings in 2017 and a number of hacks in 2018, Ponzi schemes have become among the most popular vehicles for fraud. The biggest ones have been prolific: Just six well-orchestrated scams were responsible for about 90% of the funds stolen last year, Chainalysis said.

"There's been huge growth in ones that mimic investing opportunities," said Kim Grauer, head of research at Chainalysis. They are becoming more sophisticated, larger in size and they reach into the mainstream, victimizing naive investors, she said. wsj.com

RobbinHood Kills Security Processes Before Dropping Ransomware
In a newly detected attack campaign, the attackers behind RobbinHood ransomware deploy legitimate, digitally signed hardware drivers to delete security tools on target machines before they encrypt files.

These attacks exploit known vulnerability CVE-2019-19320, report Sophos researchers who investigated two attacks employing this technique. The flaw exists in a signed driver that is part of a now-deprecated software package published by Taiwanese motherboard manufacturer Gigabyte. When it was patched with proof-of-concept code in 2018, Gigabyte said its products weren't affected by the flaws. While the company later rescinded its statement, it continued using the vulnerable driver, which is still a threat. darkreading.com

Amazon wants to depose Trump after losing $10 billion Pentagon cloud contract
Amazon's cloud computing arm wants to depose President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Defense Secretary James Mattis over a $10 billion Pentagon cloud contract awarded to Microsoft, according to court documents unsealed Monday.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) said in the filing that it wants to depose Trump to learn more about any private conversations or instructions that were given in regard to the JEDI contract award.

In November, Amazon filed a notice in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims indicating a plan to protest the Pentagon's decision to award Microsoft the multibillion-dollar cloud contract. cnbc.com

Could cloud liveness detection and facial biometrics make high security attractive?
A recently granted U.S. patent links facial recognition, liveness detection and cloud computing.

In June 2018, a secretive licensing startup called Brivas (Biometric Relative Identity Verified Authentication System) applied for its sixth patent related to liveness techniques. biometricupdate.com