Vector Security Raleigh, NC Branch Partners with Susan G. Komen
to Support 'Securing the Cure' Program
Vector Security, Inc., the provider of intelligent mobile security and automation solutions for homes and businesses, announces its partnership with the Susan G. Komen North Carolina Triangle to the Coast Affiliate (Komen NCTC) in support of the "Securing the Cure" program for breast cancer research and education.

As part of the year-long partnership, Vector Security will donate $100 to Komen NCTC for each security system sold and installed by the Raleigh Branch mentioning promo code "SGK" during 2018. In addition, Vector Security will award one year of free basic monitoring services to a breast cancer survivor, as nominated by Komen NCTC, as part of October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

A dedicated webpage has been set up at www.vectorsecurity.com/SGK for more information. Those interested can also contact the Vector Security Raleigh Branch at 919-859-0163 and mention code "SGK." vectorsecurity.com

Retailer Had 'Hit List' of Potential Fraud Victims
Former Pilot Flying J sales exec ordered up fraud 'manual' to keep track
It was getting tough to keep up with the cheating, and getting caught had proven expensive for the nation's largest diesel fuel retailer. But Pilot Flying J sales executive Arnie Ralenkotter had a solution: A fraud "manual."

Ralenkotter has confessed carrying out a five-year scheme at the truck stop giant to lure trucking companies to buy diesel fuel at Pilot Flying J in return for discounts and then short them.

He is one of 26 witnesses who have testified since November in the trial of former Pilot Flying J President Mark Hazelwood, former Vice President Scott "Scooter" Wombold and former account representatives Heather Jones and Karen Mann.

Ralenkotter wanted to create a system to both identify new potential fraud victims and keep up with the promised rebates and the amounts actually being paid. He asked account representative Lexie Holden to generate a list of potential victims.

"It was a hit list, a target list, a list of customers that were to be focused on," Holden testified.

Ralenkotter schooled another account representative, Janet Welch, on marking current victims in the system. In an email, Ralenkotter told Welch to share her method of keeping up with fraud victims with the other sales staffers who did the paperwork on fuel rebates.

"Ask Janet (Welch) about the Janet manual," Ralenkotter wrote. "We should do the Lexie (Holden) manual, and the Karen (Mann) manual, also."

Ralenkotter and other sales executives, including former Director Brian Mosher and former Vice President John "Stick" Freeman, often ordered the all-female staff of account representatives to avoid sending "back up" to fraud victims, testimony and emails showed. knoxnews.com

Jury in Pilot Flying J fraud trial asks court to define the word 'Voluntarily'
Jury deliberations began Wednesday afternoon and resumed Monday. The panel deliberated eight hours on Monday, for a total of roughly 12 hours of deliberations so far. They will return to deliberate further Tuesday.

The jury posed one question Monday, asking U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier to define the word "voluntarily." That word is used in the conspiracy charges, and jurors have been instructed they must find each of the four defendants "voluntarily" joined and participated in the fraud scheme.

Former account representative Karen Mann's attorney has argued Mann was simply doing the bidding of her bosses and, when she raised questions about changing discounts without telling the trucking companies, was told it was OK. He contended in his arguments Mann did not "voluntarily" join the conspiracy. knoxnews.com

Checkpoint Systems Introduces RFID Versions of Its Mini and Attack Spider Wraps
Checkpoint Systems, a leading global supplier of Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS), RFID solutions and Alpha High-Theft Solutions for the retail industry, today announced RFID versions of its Mini and Attack Spider Wraps. Previously available for use with traditional EAS systems, the new RFID versions are ideal for retailers seeking to protect a wide range of high-risk merchandise with RFID technology. This advanced technology ensures that protected products are available for purchase by consumers.

According to Stuart Rosenthal, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Checkpoint's Alpha High-Theft Solutions, "Retailers are increasing their RFID footprint in stores and as a result Alpha is supporting these retailers with RFID-enabled products to protect high-risk merchandise and ensure merchandise visibility." businesswire.com

Sonitrol and 3xLOGIC combine for a video verification solution that protects Ted's Pawn Shop and its outdoor lot full of high value items
Ted's Pawn Shop, located in Norwood, Ohio, needed a surveillance system that could protect the inside of the store, as well as its outdoor lot filled with vehicles, motorcycles, boats and more.

"Ted's Pawn has been a long-time customer for us," explained Wayne Lisle, vice president and general manager for Sonitrol SW Ohio. "They've had analog video surveillance for about eight years, and we had been utilizing audio verification of alarms for the inside of the store. The outside lot was a different story."

Lisle said they wanted to add video verification to the lot, but were unable to due to a host of issues related to installation, connectivity and reliability. However, these issues were resolved with the implementation of a 3xLOGIC hybrid DVR. securitysales.com

New York: State looks to shut down Baby Formula/ Medicine Black Market
Will outlaw the sale of products by anyone not licensed to sell them
New York is one step closer to keeping household products off the black market. A bill has passed the state Senate which will outlaw the sale of products like baby formula, aspirin, and ibuprofen by anyone not licensed to sell them.

Sen. David Carlucci (D-Rockland/Westchester), who introduced the bill, says these products are in high demand and selling them on the black market has become common. He says the new legislation would cut down on theft and keep consumers safe. The Senate had passed this bill last year, but it failed to make it out of the Assembly. The bill is now again in the Assembly's hands. news12.com

Virginia: ACLU of Virginia opposes bipartisan deal on Felony Threshold
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia says it is opposed to last week's bipartisan deal that would raise Virginia's felony theft threshold from $200 to $500 while also strengthening the state's criminal restitution system. The local ACLU says in a Monday statement it, the NAACP in Loudoun County and several other organizations support the felony larceny threshold increase but oppose another bill the compromise included to ensure criminals pay court-ordered restitution to crime victims. The statement says defendants without the ability to pay restitution could be kept on probation indefinitely if the changes are adopted. It also says probation officers and judges would turn into "debt collectors." wtop.com

Tennessee Bill 1717: Criminal Offenses to ORC
As introduced, punishes the offense of organized retail crime one classification higher if the defendant organized, supervised, financed, or managed the activity of one or more people; requires merchants other than an original issuer or the original issuer's agent to provide a record of stored value card transactions to law enforcement within 24 hours of the transaction. legiscan.com

Barnes & Noble cuts staff after dismal holiday season
Barnes & Noble is trimming its staff, laying off lead cashiers, digital leads and other experienced workers in a company-wide clearing, CNBC has learned from sources familiar with the matter.

The news came abruptly for many workers who showed up Monday morning at various Barnes & Noble locations to be notified that they no longer had a job, the people said. The number of affected workers couldn't immediately be determined. As of April 29 of last year, Barnes & Noble employed about 26,000 people.

"[Barnes & Noble] has been reviewing all aspects of the business, including our labor model," a spokeswoman told CNBC about the layoffs. "Given our sales decline this holiday, we're adjusting staffing so that it meets the needs of our existing business and our customers. As the business improves, we'll adjust accordingly." cnbc.com

France: Workers of Europe's biggest retailer Carrefour protest job cuts
Workers at retail giant Carrefour are protesting at hypermarkets across France over mass job cuts. Unions staged a protest Thursday in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, marching through the aisles with red flags as shoppers pushed carts past their banners. It's part of a string of Carrefour demonstrations around the country this month.

Europe's biggest retailer, Carrefour announced last month that it will invest 2.8 billion euros ($3.4 billion) over the next five years in online shopping and cut 2,400 jobs. CEO Alexandre Bompard wants more investment in e-commerce to compete with Amazon. nydailynews.com

Dollar Stores Hammered by Trump Proposal to Abandon Food Stamps
A Trump administration proposal to reduce food-stamp benefits is casting a cloud over U.S. dollar-store chains. Shares of Dollar Tree Inc. and Dollar General Corp. both dropped on Monday after President Donald Trump unveiled the plan, which would slash cash payments and substitute them with packages of food -- potentially one of the biggest shake-ups in the history of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

The dollar chains are particularly vulnerable to the changes because they cater to less affluent shoppers. Dollar General and Dollar Tree's Family Dollar division have signaled that food stamps account for roughly 5 percent of sales, according to Gordon Haskett Research Advisors analyst Chuck Grom.

But the changes -- if implemented -- would extend to a broad swath of the grocery industry, including Walmart Inc. and Kroger Co. The food-stamp program served 42.2 million people during the 2017 fiscal year, with many spending the benefits at supermarkets. bloomberg.com

The NRF Effect
National Retail Federation Saves the Industry Over $500 Billion a Year
Retail supports one in four American jobs and drives a significant percentage of our nation's new job growth. The retail industry's policy agenda is focused on jobs, innovation and consumer value. Your dues investment has helped NRF win on key issues that are important to our industry.

TAX REFORM - NRF fought for years for pro-growth tax reform, and the plan signed into law reduces the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, saving the U.S. retail industry $17.4 billion a year and making retail one of the biggest winners under tax reform.

PAYMENTS - Debit card swipe fee reform won by NRF and our merchant allies saves retailers and their customers $8 billion a year.

BORDER ADJUSTMENT - NRF led defeat of a $500 billion-a-year border adjustment tax that would have driven up prices for consumers and put some retailers out of business.

OVERTIME - NRF successfully fought a plan to expand overtime that could have cost retailers over $8 billion a year.

PATENT TROLLS - NRF is leading the fight against patent troll lawsuits that cost businesses $30 billion a year.


Safety Director for Academy Sports & Outdoors job was taken down from website

Crate & Barrel pulling the plug on kid's concept, closing all Land of Nod stores

Gunmaker Remington files for bankruptcy amid declining sales

7 retail execs envision the future of stores
 

Better Decisions - Agilence Webinar

Join us for Better Decisions through Data Analytics, an Executive Session webinar. This webinar is tailored to the decision makers of retail who know that big data is the key driver to sales optimization, promotion performance and profit improvement; all while being under the umbrella of a massive ROI.

With 135+ national retailers already leveraging the Agilence platform, it's time talk through what challenges YOU need to solve in 2018 (and beyond) using big data. Register now.

Hosted by Agilence's Pedro Ramos, this session was developed to encourage Q & A and leave you with an IT Requirements checklist that you can use while vetting data analytics solutions.

   ● When: Thu, Feb 22, 2018
   ● Time: 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM EST
   ● Presenter: Pedro Ramos, VP of Sales - Retail Analytics

Hold your seat for Better Decisions through Data Analytics on February 22, 2018.

Retail Cyber Intelligence Sharing Center (R-CISC) Forms Gaming and Hospitality Cybersecurity Alliance (GHCA), a Dedicated Information and Intelligence Sharing Alliance within the R-CISC
Today, the Retail Cyber Intelligence Sharing Center (R-CISC) announced the formation of the Gaming and Hospitality Cybersecurity Alliance (GHCA), a dedicated information and intelligence sharing group within the R-CISC. MGM Resorts International will co-chair the alliance in partnership with several of the largest global gaming and hospitality companies such as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, among others.

A successful cyber-attack can compromise customer accounts, weaken infrastructure, harm brand reputation, and also disrupt the supply chain. In an effort to collaborate against these threats, the R-CISC partnered with leading gaming and hospitality companies to form the GHCA. Housed within the R-CISC, the group's mission is to foster a secure, collaborative forum for gaming, hospitality, and entertainment organizations to share threat intelligence. Information shared translates to detection, mitigation, and improved response capabilities to reduce business risks, protect customer accounts, and create safer experiences within our ecosystem. r-cisc.org

4 reasons forensics will remain a pillar of cybersecurity
Artificial intelligence (AI), security orchestration and the Internet of Things (IoT) are disrupting our industry. Some bombastic pundits are even predicting a Jetsons-like world where computers and IoT devices replace workers with machines. Yet most futurists believe computing will only evolve to the level of a digital assistant. Tasks, they say, will be split between artificial and biologic intelligence. Forensics is a prime example of a human compliment to both AI and security automation.

Here are some reasons Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) will stay relevant in this world of intelligent devices and software that "thinks."

1. Alerts produced by AI may actually increase incident response workload

Artificial intelligence is making threat detection better. Yet AI has two downsides which will keep responders busy. The first is higher rates of false positives in detecting malware. At the risk of oversimplifying, many AI approaches are closer to human intelligence because they think statistically. So far, AI trained with the prejudices ingrained in the data they're modeled against, have produced high false positives. AI also passes limited information about the malware it detects, leaving forensics to fill in the rest.

2. Orchestration and automation won't replace forensic practitioners

3. IoT, mobile and cloud don't change the fundamental issue

4. There's always a new detection approach...and sophisticated actors bypassing it  csoonline.com

How Artificial Intelligence Is Edging Its Way Into Our Lives
In Phoenix, cars are self-navigating the streets. In many homes, people are barking commands at tiny machines, with the machines responding. On our smartphones, apps can now recognize faces in photos and translate from one language to another.

Artificial intelligence is here - and it's bringing new possibilities, while also raising questions. Do these gadgets and services really behave as advertised? How will they evolve in the years ahead? How quickly will they overhaul the way we live and change the way we do business?

No, Amazon isn't using A.I. to cut jobs

Jeff Wilke, Amazon's chief executive of its consumer business, which includes its e-commerce operations, recently discussed the internet retailer's move into artificial intelligence. His key message: A.I. is everywhere, but that doesn't mean it will take our jobs.

"If you look at the evolution of technology over the course of decades, tech doesn't eliminate work; it changes work," Mr. Wilke said.

He said that over the last five years, since Amazon bought a robot maker called Kiva Systems, it had built 100,000 of the robots - and also hired 300,000 people. "We still need human judgment," he said.

Amazon has also embedded A.I. throughout the company, he added, with technologists working together with people who run businesses. The company is using machine learning and deep learnings, which are different flavors of A.I., to upgrade internal algorithms, he said.

As to how Amazon might use A.I. at Whole Foods, the grocery store chain that it said it would acquire last year, Mr. Wilke said little. When asked whether Amazon would integrate its cashier-less and A.I.-driven convenience store concept, called Amazon Go, with Whole Foods, he said, "I don't foresee the format of Whole Foods changing very much." nytimes.com

Automation May Have Disproportionate Impact on Women, Minorities
But economist predicts automation won't lead to fewer jobs
Women are in the greatest danger of being replaced in the workforce by automation, unless they are retrained for other jobs, according to a recent report from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Black employees also are at risk of losing their jobs to robots, Katrinell Davis, a professor in Florida State University's Program in African American Studies, said in an interview.

But Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy for the Economic Policy Institute, said, "There is no basis for believing that robots or automation are having an unusual transformative effect on the labor market." shrm.org

Winter Olympics hit with cyber attack during opening ceremony

'Zombie bots' are coming for lonely singles on Valentine's Day

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

To Blunt Fraud, Chase The Consumer, Not The Fraudster
In an interview with PYMNTS' Karen Webster, David Excell, founder and chief technology officer at Featurespace, said that during his time at Cambridge University in the early part of the Millennium, the buzzwords of "Big Data" and "machine learning" were just emerging and could be traced back, in part, to a simple premise: building statistical models that could decode signals and get rid of noise - an endeavor most easily illustrated by a phone call, where the conversation must come through clearly, regardless of the ambient noise.

Said Excell, technological pursuits dovetailed with his interest in people-watching at, say, Starbucks (where else?), observing who seemed familiar with their surroundings, who seemed comfortable, who seemed at home in the world and who seemed a (tentative) tourist. Consistent observation and categorization based on a steady flow of real-time information can be extended to the concept of how fraud is understood.

For Featurespace, which offers banks and other customers its ARIC platform (short for adaptive, real-time, individual change), "the way that we approach it is that we determine what are the pieces of data that help understand 'normal' user activity, learn the history of what that is and use that as a mechanism" to create informed, decision-making processes.

"The ARIC platform is always able to update what is known about the customer," Excell told PYMNTS, with an eye on what would be defined as good activity. It feeds the information gathered back into the decision-making process "almost instantly ... to optimize the decision-making" about customer behavior. pymnts.com

Yes, fraud affects your bottom line
At its core, a company's main goals are winning customers and earning revenues that are greater than expenses. Fraud prevention has a role in both those processes, although the one that comes to mind first is cost reduction. Fraud from consumer-facing sources represented 2.14% of e-commerce revenues in the 2017 Lexis Nexis True Cost of Fraud survey, while Javelin Research put the cost of fraud losses, false positives, and fraud management at 7.6%. But because the average margins for retailers tend to hover around 4 to 8%, fraud may actually consume a huge proportion of a company's profit. The exact cost of fraud will vary by sector and company, but the reality is that as e-commerce fraud continues to grow, so will the related costs to businesses.

A lot has been said about fraud prevention technologies, big data, and AI, but at the end of the day, the only way to prevent fraud is declining certain orders or preventing them from being placed. The consequence of that reality is that order approval and denial mistakes will be made, because no system or human is perfect. Instead of losing your revenue through fraud, mistakenly declined orders will cost your business real revenue as well as the loss of ongoing and future business. In the fraud prevention world, we call these declined orders "false positives," but for those of you who run these e-commerce sites, it's more like "all the time and money invested to make that customer click 'buy' circling the drain" - a nightmare scenario!

How big is the false positive problem in e-commerce? False declines cost businesses more than 13 times as much as completed fraud: $118 billion per year versus $9 billion. And that's just the beginning of the problems that false positives cause, according to Javelin Research. A harder-to-quantify but bigger issue is how false positives reduce the lifetime value of the customers whose orders are declined in error. BankingTech reported that Javelin found affluent consumers who shop while traveling-the kind of customers many retailers would love to have a strong relationship with-are more likely than other shoppers to be declined by mistake. And thirty-two percent of those customers who are falsely declined don't shop with that retailer again, which increases the cost to acquire customers. csoonline.com

Federal Grand Jury indicts 10 in Colorado credit card, fuel theft scam
Ten people have been arrested following a 1.5 -year investigation into an alleged credit card theft ring and fuel scam operation. A federal grand jury indicted the suspects, who are now facing charges ranging from bank fraud to aggravated identity theft. The Dept. of Justice said three homes, a business premises and 13 gas-haul trucks used during the scheme were seized.

According to the indictment, the defendants, using multiple pickup trucks outfitted with extra tanks, went to gas stations throughout the northern Front Range and purchased thousands of gallons of fuel using fraudulent credit cards. The information for those "cloned cards" was gleaned from skimming devices and/or from the purchase of stolen account information on the "dark web." The new cards were then used at gas pumps in Thornton, Commerce City, Aurora, Frederick, Evans, Greeley, Loveland, Firestone, and unincorporated Adams County. thedenverchannel.com



Chesterfield, MO: Burglars' steal $20,000 worth of Sunglasses from Solstice Sunglass Outlet
Detective Robert Powell said the duo broke into Solstice Sunglass Outlet after hours February 3rd. The burglars were on a mission, he said. Surveillance images show one of them headed for the display wall. He is seen emptying the sunglasses from the wall into a trashcan. kplr11.com



San Ramon: Safeway employee alerts Police to $10,000 ORC over-the-counter medication theft
Monday night, a store employee's quick call to alert police led to two arrests and the recovery of more than $10,000 in over-the-counter medicines. The call from a worker at a Safeway store alerted police that two suspects had taken the medicine before driving away in a silver Hyundai with paper plates. Swing-shift officers patrolling near the store found and stopped the car minutes later, recovering the medicines. A search of the Hyundai also yielded about $2,000 in stolen goods from local retailers. The suspects were arrested on suspicion of robbery and taken to Martinez county jail. eastbaytimes.com

Ventura County, CA: Police Detectives halt alleged "panty bandits"
in Thousand Oaks
The three - two women and a female juvenile - were captured on a Victoria's Secret surveillance video in November 2017, Detective Tim Lohman said. The retail chain is known for its high-end undergarments and lingerie. The sheriff's office had been alerted by loss prevention personnel from Victoria's Secret about the trio's identity, he said. They are believed to have stolen thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from Victoria's Secret and other retailers, he said. "Last night, detectives got word the females were coming back from the Bay Area after hitting stores" there, Lohman said Monday. In Thousand Oaks, they were intercepted by detectives from the sheriff's east county office, he said. Undersheriff Gary Pentis, who tweeted about the arrest, referred to the three as an "organized crime crew" that had been dubbed the "Panty Bandits." vcstar.com

Pacoima, CA: Three men, one armed with a handgun and two with hammers, robbed a Costco Monday morning before fleeing
A cellphone user captured the robbery on film, which shows customers panicking as two men dressed in black took handfuls of jewelry. One of them appears to break a jewelry display's glass with a hammer before grabbing some merchandise. Both of their faces were covered. However, police later described the men as all white and in their 30s. No injuries were reported. The thieves took a "significant amount of jewelry," LAPD Capt. Aaron Ponce said. ktla.com

Kittanning, PA: Woman stole more than $2,200 in merchandise from Walmart
A woman was arrested by State Police after stealing more than $1,300 worth of merchandise from a Kittanning Walmart - her second major shoplifting attempt this month. Naomi Sue Penn, 32, was arrested following the Feb. 9 theft. She is charged with retail theft and trespassing. In the previous incident on Feb. 3 she allegedly stole $900 worth of merchandise. triblive.com

Dickson, TN: 50 to 60 cans of Baby Formula Stolen from Kroger

Shootings & Deaths

Dallas, TX: Three C-Store Workers Shot During Robbery, Suspect At-Large
Monday afternoon, Police were called to a C-Store shooting/ Armed Robbery. The employees were found with gunshot wounds and were taken to the hospital. Two are expected to recover, but the third is in critical condition, police said. cbslocal.com

Muscogee County, GA: Gunshot victim found in C-Store parking lot

Shafter, CA: Police shooting of man who attempted to run over Officer was justified

Birmingham, AL: Man shot and killed in C-Store parking lot

Warren Anderson promoted to Asset Protection Manager - Physical Security for Rent-A-Center

Keith Willes named Regional Corporate Investigations Manager for Walmart

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Feel Less Stress with Lists, Water and Meditation
 

5 Simple Things You Can Do Right Away to Feel Less Stressed
Stress can affect people in different ways, but by using these tips, you can help lower your stress levels and feel more relaxed even when under extreme pressure. If you're feeling stressed, here are five things you can do to help ease your mind. Make a list

10 Best Ways to Handle Stress Under Pressure
There's more to handling stress than just good luck or good genes. When your stress levels have hit their max, here are some great things you can do to find the best solution for your stress issues. Water: the original energy drink

Five Simple Ways to Reduce Stress at Work
Everyone encounters stress at work, and experts often talk about "setting boundaries" between work and home to help reduce stress. Here are some great examples of simple things you can do to help reduce stress by the time you get home. Be present

Here's How to Establish Healthy Stress Habits Before It's Too Late
Stress is a great gift. It's a source of strength, motivator and it helps push us beyond our capabilities. Failing to harness and manage that stress, however, can hurt our health and careers. Here's what you can do to practice healthy stress habits. Triggers

"Keep It Simple." What a phrase that we've all heard a million times and, quite frankly, most of us don't take it seriously enough. So many tend to over think and over do that, at times, we just don't get things done. Ken Blanchard said in one of his books that if you expect or even want perfection, you'll never get anything done. We all tend to over think and in our desire to do what's best, we can get lost in details and stand in the way of moving forward - most of which is as a result of just plainly not having enough confidence in one's self to just risk it and go for it. Hesitation is human nature and wanting to make sure you get things exactly perfect - well somebody's going to pass you by with the answer - that's simple, but brilliant. So keep it simple and have faith in the bird on your shoulder.

Just a Thought,
Gus

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