'Lawlessness on UK's High Street: The Culprits Behind Shoplifting Surge
UK: Did you pay for that? What is driving the massive rise in shoplifting?

High streets across the UK are struggling with an epidemic of stealing. What's behind this sudden crime wave and can anything be done to stop it?

According to the Office for National Statistics, 2023 was the worst year on record for shoplifting, with more than 430,000 cases recorded, an increase of more than a third from the year before. But that is probably just a fraction of the real number.

The Co-op alone recorded 330,000 incidents of shoplifting, abuse, violence and antisocial behaviour in its 2,500+ stores across the UK in 2023, a 44% increase on the year before. The company, one of the most vocal on the subject (which it can be as a co-operative, knowing there are no share prices at risk), recently published a report titled Stealing with Impunity, which attempted to encapsulate the impact the rise in shoplifting is having on the business. In the introduction, Paul Gerrard, the Co-op's director of public affairs, described a state of "lawlessness on the UK high street that has never been seen before"

The cost of living crisis, directly or indirectly, is the driving force of the UK's shoplifting epidemic. Criminologist Professor Emmeline Taylor, who hosts the Retail Crime Uncovered podcast and wrote the report for the Co-op, divides culprits into three categories.

First, there are organised criminals moving from county to county picking targets and stealing in bulk to sell at a reduced price. Second are the "local prolifics", repeat offenders who target the same stores over and over again. Often, either under duress or on commission, thieves work for a middle-man - a fence - who acts as a kind of discount boutique for the community

A 2018 report by the Centre for Social Justice stated that dependencies on heroin, crack cocaine and psychoactive substances drive 70% of all retail theft in the UK, and Taylor says the bulk of these prolific offenders are vulnerable, be it through substance abuse, extreme poverty or poor mental health.

Finally, there are the opportunists, the Swipers. M&S chairman and former Conservative shadow minister Archie Norman recently said he believes it's these people driving the overall spike, not necessarily the gangs or the repeat offenders. "A lot of people go in and think, 'Well this didn't scan or it's very difficult to scan these things through and I shop here all the time, it's not my fault, I'm owed it,'" he said.  theguardian.com


The Great Debate Over Checking Receipts At Store Exits
Are California shoppers legally required to stop for receipt checkers at store exits?
Retailers all over California have employees placed at store exits to check receipts as a person leaves as proof of purchase for merchandise. But are shoppers legally required to stop?

Most notably, Walmart has asset protection associates, formerly known as door greeters, at every entrance and exit of its stores. While some people choose to wait in line to get their receipts verified before leaving the store, others will breeze by without stopping.

"It helps prevent theft," said Caroline Falconer in response to a FOX40 social media post. "I don't steal so I don't have a reason to hide anything or avoid being checked." Falconer said she stops for employees because they have reason to check receipts against items in a person's cart or bags, however, some other shoppers disagree.

"As soon as I give you money those items are now mine," said David Mickelson. "Get a search warrant. And for those of you that say all this checking without a reason is just how it is, you are part of the problem."

According to California penal code 490.5, also known as the "shopkeeper's privilege law," shoppers may not have to stop at exits to have their receipts checked.

The law states, "A merchant may detain a person for a reasonable time for the purpose of conducting an investigation in a reasonable manner whenever the merchant has probable cause to believe the person to be detained is attempting to unlawfully take or has unlawfully taken merchandise from the merchant's premises."

So, unless a store suspects that a person has committed a crime, they cannot legally force a person exiting a store to present a receipt.  ktla.com


Theft Up 23% in D.C. - Retailers Tighten Security
DC residents complain new anti-theft measures in grocery stores are dystopian
Major Washington, D.C., grocers are targeting rampant shoplifting with measures some shoppers find disconcerting. Customers at Giant Food, Harris Teeter, and Safeway have noticed new measures implemented by grocers to crack down on retail theft.

At Giant, shoppers must comply with a ban on large bags enacted last Thursday at select Washington stores. The company noted in a statement that anything larger than 14-by-14-by-6 inches is not welcome.

Harris Teeter started checking customers' receipts last month, adding in a statement that it will also prohibit suitcases, oversized backpacks, and roller bags to "maintain a safe shopping experience and continue providing the best service and goods at competitive prices to our customers."

Safeway has followed suit. In February, the grocer implemented electronic gates that prevent customers from leaving without a receipt.

The enhanced security at grocery stores hits unnervingly close to home for many residents, who regret that shoplifting has reached the point where grocery stores feel forced to implement harsh measures.

Washington police do not track retail theft as a specific category, making it difficult to find concrete data on shoplifting. However, the department includes retail theft as part of its broader theft category, reporting that thefts in the district increased by 23% in 2023. This number excludes thefts of or from vehicles. washingtonexaminer.com


PDs Across the Country Zero In On Repeat ORC Offenders
How Kern County law enforcement cracks down on organized retail thefts
"We've done investigations within like an hour, we, we find out where they're at. And arrest individuals and recover merchandise," said Sergeant Keegan Gavin with the Bakersfield Police Department.

However, Sgt. Gavin, the supervisor of BPD's retail theft unit told us community members don't realize an investigation is often already underway against thieves. "Often times, these are repeat offenders and that they're known to of us and we can get on right away," said Sgt. Gavin.

Officer D. C. Williams with the California Highway Patrol said that his department works with other agencies for these types of crimes and reporting thefts promptly makes fast arrests possible.

To date, CHP reports there have been 541 arrests and a total of about $4 million recovered of merchandise. Both officials said an important takeaway from this most recent theft is to do what the other shoppers on video were doing, that is don't try to intervene.  bakersfieldnow.com


Mall of America Shooter Sentenced to 30+ Years
Minneapolis teen sentenced to more than 30 years in fatal shooting at Mall of America
A Minneapolis teenager was sentenced Thursday to more than 30 years for a fatal shooting that shut down the Mall of America during the holiday shopping rush in 2022.

Taeshawn Adams-Wright, 19, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in March in the killing of 19-year-old Johntae Hudson, of Minneapolis. He is the first of four defendants to be sentenced. The other alleged shooter, 19-year-old Lavon Longstreet, is due to go on trial next week. Two juveniles are facing lesser charges.

The shooting happened the evening of Dec. 23, 2022, after a fight broke out between two groups of teens in the Bloomington mall, the country's largest shopping center. Prosecutors said Adams-Wright and others chased Hudson through the Nordstrom store. Security video captured the chaos. Hudson was shot multiple times and died at the scene. Police say he fired during the confrontation, too, and a gun was found near his body. A shopper was grazed by a bullet. The mall went into lockdown. toronto.citynews.ca


California Assembly Divided as Controversial Shoplifting Bill Secures Narrow Victory

Peachtree, GA: Police battle organized retail theft gangs
 

Shrink is Dollar General's 'Most Significant Headwind'
Dollar General to eliminate 'vast majority' of self-checkout, reduce new store openings

Despite a 6% Q1 net sales rise and performance that beat analyst expectations, shrink remains a significant headwind, CEO says.

Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos said Thursday that the company plans to remove self-checkout from "the vast majority of stores" as part of larger overall shrink reduction efforts that include changes in supply chain and merchandising. Dollar General has already removed self-checkouts from 12,000 of its more than 20,000 stores, Vasos said.

The discount retailer also said it plans to increase the number of store remodels but reduce planned store openings for fiscal year 2024. Dollar General said it now expects to open 730 new stores - down from 800 previously planned. It also plans 1,620 remodels, up from 1,500. It's maintaining plans to relocate 85 stores.

Dollar General's first quarter net sales rose 6.1% year over year to $9.9 billion, driven by sales contributions from new stores and growth in same-store sales, the company said in a Thursday earnings announcement. Net income fell 29.4% to $363.3 million from $514.4 million a year ago, while same-store sales rose 2.4% for Q1 year over year.

Vasos said self checkout will remain in a limited number of higher volume stores. He added that the shift away from self checkout will drive increased customer engagement and should position the company to begin reducing shrink in the second half of 2024 with a material impact expected in 2025.

"Shrink continues to be the most significant headwind in our business," Vasos said. retaildive.com


Self-Checkout Glitch at 16,000 Walmart Stores
Walmart sounds the alarm on its major mistakes at self-checkout

The retail giant has admitted that a technical issue may have frustrated price-conscious customers.

Walmart has just admitted that it may have overcharged shoppers who opted to use self-checkout machines in March at 1,600 stores across the nation due to a technical issue, according to documents that were seen by Bloomberg News.

The documents reveal that the issue began on March 19, and that some customers were even undercharged for items across all categories such as food, apparel, etc. The source of the malfunction was due to an "internal system failure" that halted price data from being updated at self-checkout kiosks. Walmart's tech staff were still tackling the issue two days after it started.

Walmart did confirm with Bloomberg that customers who were overcharged were charged an average of 1.88% of the total amount of items that they were checking out at the machines. The issue has also been resolved, and 80% of customers who were overcharged for items have been reimbursed.

Walmart's technical issues with self-checkout comes during a time where the company is beginning to remove self-checkout lanes from its stores amid rising retail theft.  thestreet.com


More Connected & Divided at the Same Time
Digital Acceleration and the Top 5 Global Risks for 2024

By Tony D'Onofrio - President, Sensormatic

The world is much more connected today because of increased digital innovations. News travels at the speed of your fingertips, in many languages, almost instantly and visually as it happens.

The Economist Intelligence Unit recently highlighted five global risks for the balance of 2024 which are summarized in the below chart from my keynote presentation.

New Set of Retail Security Standards Takes Effect
Understanding PCI DSS 4.0: A Guide for IT Leaders in Retail

As the retail industry continues to evolve, so do the credit card protection standards. PCI DSS 4.0 is the latest security standard to hit.

Every time a customer taps his or her credit card at checkout, it's the retailer's responsibility to process it and protect the cardholder's data. But with so much data transmitted behind the scenes, the actual security process can be mysterious. How is the data actually protected? And how can IT leaders be certain they're doing enough on the back end to prevent fraud and data breaches?

That's where the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) comes in. Every year, the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) issues a new set of compliance rules, along with documentation, that every business - whether they process fifty transactions or 500 million - must follow.

The newest standard, PCI DSS v4.0, announced in 2022, became effective on March 31, 2024. It's something that every e-commerce, brick-and-mortar or big-box retailer must comply with. The new version's requirements are twofold. The first part asked companies to update their documentation guides by the end of March this year and complete a mandatory security self-assessment. If a retailer processes 6 million or more transactions in a day, they must solicit a technology partner, such as CDW, to run the assessment. The second part - due March 31, 2025 - is more complex, as it asks retailers to comply with a set of entirely new criteria, "80 to 90 percent of which are brand new to the industry," says Brett Phillips, managing director of cybersecurity strategy at CDW.

According to Forbes, experts say this new version, which is the "most impactful transformation of the standard since version 2.0 over a decade ago, introduces several changes, transitions and goals." Any business that fails to meet these requirements will be looking at fines and compliance delays, Phillips explains.

Understanding the difference between PCI DSS 3.2.1 and PCI DSS 4.0 is crucial; it's a key step in protecting customer data. And although the 12 core requirements are unchanged, 4.0 introduces more robust security measures such as MFA requirements across all platforms, more complex passwords and continuous, targeted assessments to treat security as an ongoing effort.

Here's what IT leaders, particularly those in retail, need to know:  biztechmagazine.com


560 Million Customers Impacted by Breach
Entertainment giant Ticketmaster acknowledges cybersecurity incident

The reported breach could involve as many as 560 million customer records.

ive Nation Entertainment, the parent company of global entertainment company Ticketmaster, acknowledged late Friday a cybersecurity incident roughly five days after a hacker advertised a massive tranche of company data for sale for $500,000.

The company "identified unauthorized activity within a third-party cloud database environment containing Company data" on May 20, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

"We are working to mitigate the risk to our users and the Company, and have notified and are cooperating with law enforcement," the filing stated.

Ticketmaster has not responded to multiple requests for comment from CyberScoop over the past week about the incident. cyberscoop.com

 
Blaming Customers for Data Breach & Theft?
Snowflake denies breach, blames data theft on poorly secured customer accounts
Snowflake is disputing claims made by a threat actor who stole data belonging to Santander and Ticketmaster, and maintains that the theft of customer data was the result of stolen customer login credentials.

On Friday, the company confirmed that some customers accounts have been accessed by attackers who used previously compromised credentials. They notified the affected customers, shared indicators of compromise and offered recommendations to assist them in securing their accounts.

Mitiga researchers' post on how Snowflake customers can perform threat hunting has provided more details about the attacks: the attackers breached accounts that did not have 2-factor authentication switched on, grabbed the cloud-stored data and used it to extort the affected organizations. helpnetsecurity.com


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