NRF's ORC Data Update Makes More Headlines
Target, Walmart, and other retailers get shocking crime news

A major report has changed and that raises questions about Walmart, Target, Walgreens and other retailers.

Theft numbers are part of what the industry calls shrink. Some shrink is shoplifting, some is organized retail crime, some comes from employee theft, and items also can be lost in less nefarious ways. An April report from NRF, showed that organized retail crime was a massive part of overall shrink for retailers.

"In the original report, dedicated to organized retail crime and conducted with risk, compliance, investigations and monitoring firm K2 Integrity, the group had said that shrink was $94.5 billion in 2021, 'nearly half of which was attributable to" organized retail crime, Retail Dive reported.

The problem is that the data used also included shrink from process errors and inventory loss that had nothing to do with crime as well as theft. So, after Retail Dive questioned the data, the NRF updated the report.

Basically, while no actual new numbers have been provided, the data show that organized retail crime does not account for anywhere near half of all shrink.

"According to its most recent report on shrink, about 29% is lost because employees steal merchandise or money and another 34% is lost to process errors or for unknown or other reasons. The remaining 36% is from external theft, of which organized retail crime is a subset," the website reported. thestreet.com

Click here to read the D&D Daily's initial report on the NRF's report update

   RELATED: US retail lobbyists retract key claim on 'organized' retail crime


Canada Also Seeing Historic Levels of Retail Theft
Industry consultant says retail theft is the worst it's been in 40 years
Retail theft is the worst it's been in four decades, according to an industry consultant. Stephen O'Keefe of Bottom Line Matters told 680 CJOB's The Start that, despite some perceptions, it's not a victimless crime.

"The nature of the theft has an increased level of violence that's taking place," he said. "So it does affect the consumer. They're in harm's way, from a safety standpoint, when they're in a store and pepper spray is being deployed.

"It also has an effect on the staff - who are your neighbours, your parents, your kids, who are working in the stores."

Over the past month, Winnipeg police have arrested more than 150 people as part of a wider strategy to slow down rampant shoplifting.

At a news conference Monday, police said the new initiative - in partnership with the Retail Council of Canada and the city's business community - comes at a time of increasing violence at local businesses.

According to police statistics, nearly 4,000 incidents of shoplifting for items under $5,000 occurred between January and August, representing a 44 per cent increase over the same period last year.

O'Keefe said there's often an organized crime element to retail theft, although that term can be easily misinterpreted.

"It's where one or two or more people are organized in the efforts to steal, and they generally steal like items," he said. "They're not stealing one or two items from a store, but they're stealing 10 of the exact same unit and they're using them for the purpose of resell."

The people stealing the items typically give them to another group that sells them online, or in some cases, right back to the original retailer.  globalnews.ca


SF Police Step Up ORC Blitzes
San Francisco police cite data indicating retail theft crackdown is working
San Francisco police have been promising to crack down on retail theft this holiday season, and recent results show their strategy appears to be working. The City has become notorious for videos showing thieves running out of stores with armfuls of merchandise and often getting away with it.

In addition to stepping up the police presence in Union Square and other popular shopping areas, the efforts have included what the SFPD has termed a "blitz" on retail theft.

On Thursday, police offered details on an operation that netted 17 suspected shoplifters at a single store on Mission Street near the SFMOMA and Yerba Buena Gardens earlier this week. Residents say they have noticed an improvement.

"We're not saying that this is over," Chief Bill Scott said Thursday. "We know that this is a challenge that we have to sustain this effort. But we believe that our city has gotten off to a great start."

San Francisco Police say the city is, in fact, seeing less of the rampant theft that has made international headlines for several years. They point to one set of data suggesting a 35% drop in the first six months of the year.

For that, the chief credits the department's so-called "blitz" operation targeting everything from high-end boutiques in Union Square to corner pharmacies.

"These are retail theft abatement operations," Scott explained. "Where our officers are inside of retail establishments, from Walgreens to some of our bigger retail outlets." cbsnews.com


UK Retailers Launch 'Stop Shop Theft' Campaign
Retailers launch anti-theft campaign as crimes hit record
A coalition of business groups and industry trade unions have come together to launch a new campaign calling on the police and crime commissioners (PCC) to act on retail crime.

Groups including the Association of Convenience Stores, the British Retail Consortium and the British Independent Retail Association have backed the campaign that calls upon the PCC to commit to the Retail Crime Action Plan in their local areas.

It also urges the PCC to inform businesses on how they should report incidences of theft and urges them to share a single point of contact for businesses that are a victim of crime in their area.

The new campaign, 'Stop Shop Theft', comes as retail crime figures hit a record high.

Data from 1200 retailers surveyed by the Association of Convenience Stores' Voice of Local Shops Survey showed that 38% of independent retailers have reported theft levels to have increased over the last year, compared to just 8% who claimed it had decreased.

This figure represents this highest increase since the survey started in 2012, with the previous record set earlier this year in May.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: "These shocking figures show that shop theft is still getting worse for independent retailers across the UK, despite millions being invested in crime prevention and detection measures. Prolific offenders are stealing on a regular basis without fear of being caught because they know that the police are unlikely to be able to attend."  grocerygazette.co.uk


Behind the Scenes of Oakland's Retail Theft Funding Flop
Emails, texts reveal how Oakland missed out on millions to fight retail theft
Waiting until the last minute, a citywide 911 outage, and a lack of a centralized leader all contributed to Oakland's failure of getting in on millions of dollars from the state to combat organized retail theft, according to details revealed by a public records request.

KTVU obtained communications in the form of emails and text messages between city employees and others involved in preparing an application to the California Board of State and Community Corrections, the agency in charge of handing out millions of dollars in grant money to combat retail theft - which Oakland missed out on this fall.

Those messages show a gap in action between when the application opened and its deadline. Despite knowing about it in April, messages show Oakland employees did not put their heads together until late June, a week before the deadline.

That time crunch made editing documents difficult and didn't account for an unexpected power outage at the last minute, preventing police officials from uploading necessary documents to complete their application. It's unclear if the power outage actually affected submitting the grant, but city employees suspected as much, revealed in text messages. ktvu.com


'Drive-Through Burglaries': The New Crime Wave Literally Hitting Stores
'Ram raiding' is a new violent burglary trend targeting brick-and-mortar businesses
It is an example of a crime wave targeting brick-and-mortar stores around the country. The crime, referred to as "ram raiding" and also "crash and grab," depending on where it happens, involves driving a vehicle through a store's front window to break in and loot.

The Wall Street Journal highlighted the issue over the weekend, calling them "drive-through burglaries." Targets have ranged from small boutiques like Rush Hour to luxury outlets and big box chains.

"SPD has been seeing this type of tactic of utilizing a vehicle to ram a business' entry in order to steal merchandise from within occurring in multiple incidents," Seattle Police Public Information Officer Juddina Gulpan told Fox News Digital. "It is unknown if these incidents are related."

The crimes tend to occur in the early morning hours, leaving shopkeepers showing up to work to find devastating damage. Last Wednesday, a crew hit an Oakland, California, Trader Joe's store around 4 a.m., the San Francisco Times reported. fox5dc.com


Dollar General Accused of 'Lax Security' in Lawsuit Related to Racist Shooting
After racist shooting that killed 3, families sue Dollar General firms and others over lax security
Family members of three Black people fatally shot at a Dollar General store in north Florida by a racist gunman have sued the store's landlord, operator and security contractor for negligence, claiming lax security led to their loved ones' deaths.

The 21-year-old gunman had attempted to enter another store and the campus of a historically Black college, but he was stopped by the presence of security guards at both places. The probes by Ryan Palmeter took place in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Jacksonville last August, ending in the fatal assault at the Dollar General.

The lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of the families of Angela Carr, Jerrald Gallion and A.J. Laguerre.

"While Palmeter was deterred from harming the public at his two preceding stops, at this Dollar General, there was nothing in place to again deter Palmeter from attacking and killing innocent persons," the families' lawsuit said.

Better security measures should have been in place by the store operator and landlord before the shooting last August since the area around the store had seen a rash of shootings, assaults, burglaries, robberies and drug dealing, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit was filed in state court in Jacksonville. Palmeter killed himself at the scene of the attack, leaving behind racist writings and a suicide note.  capitalgazette.com


U.S. Reaches Grim Mass Shooting Milestone
Mass shootings in US with four or more deaths hit highest level since at least 2006
There have been more mass shootings with four or more deaths in 2023 than in any year since at least 2006, according to The Washington Post's gun violence database.

There have been 38 such mass shootings this year, up from last year's high of 36. The record extends back to at least 2006, the oldest information in the Post's database.

A pair of shootings in Dallas and Vancouver, Wash., on Sunday broke the record and pushed the number of deaths in such shootings to 197 - excluding the gunmen. Mass shootings with at least four deaths have been on the rise in recent years, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 21 in 2020, 31 in 2021 and 36 in 2022.

The country is on track to fall short of the record for the number of mass shootings, which are incidents that injure at least four people. There have been 630 mass shootings in the U.S. so far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Last year's total was 645, and 2021's mark of 690 is the record.

American fears about crime are at decades-long highs, despite violent crime falling in 2022 compared to the year prior - the most recent data available from the FBI.

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) was joined by Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) and others this month in introducing a new gun control measure to limit firearm magazine sizes and purchase restrictions.

The White House also founded the Office of Gun Violence Prevention in September, with the exclusive aim of reducing the number of firearms deaths in the country.  thehill.com


Oakland boosts efforts to curb retail crime wave

Mass shooting survivor, victims' families meet with lawmakers in Washington, D.C.

Is OSHA Falling Short on Workplace Safety?
OSHA not doing enough for warehouse workers: OIG
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration continues to fail to protect warehouse workers from injuries and needs better protocols for addressing complaints regarding worker safety, according to the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General's annual report to Congress.

The report, released Thursday, calls on OSHA to develop "specific, measurable inspection goals" for programs that target specific warehouses, including establishing a baseline for the number of inspections and periodically monitoring progress toward safety and inspection goals.

The OIG also recommends that OSHA develop a more effective enforcement strategy to improve employers' reporting of injuries and that the agency "gather more specific supporting information about injuries to better identify the count and type of injuries reported, such as musculoskeletal disorders."

In addressing protocols for managing safety complaints from workers, the OIG recommends OSHA modify its manual to require mandatory interviews of complainants and witnesses.

The report also reiterated that OSHA did not do enough to protect workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, as previously noted in audits. businessinsurance.com

   RELATED: New OSHA Reporting Rule Takes Effect January 1, 2024


Sears is a shell of its former self. So why is it reopening some stores?

The retailer, which once boasted some 3,500 stores, has slowly whittled down its footprint. But recent openings likely don't signal a turnaround.

As of early December, Transformco, the parent of both brands, now operates fewer than 20 U.S. stores: 13 Sears locations and two Kmarts. The company also has Kmart locations in Guam and the Virgin Islands.

With such a small footprint, it came as a surprise to many that Sears quietly opened a store at Burbank Town Center in Los Angeles County in mid-October. The mall-based location had closed last December, according to media reports.

Sears also reopened a store in November in Union Gap, Washington, at the Valley Mall. The location had closed late last year, according to local media reports.

"It makes little sense for Sears to open stores," Erik Gordon, a professor with the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, told Retail Dive in an email. "A Sears store creates no excitement, won't be a destination store, and will have to be staffed by people who will mostly stand around talking to each other and who now are costly."  retaildive.com


'While you're shopping, bombs are dropping!'
US: Pro-Palestine Protesters Storm Upscale Shopping Mall In Columbus Circle, NYC
Hundreds of pro-Palestine activists marched through central New York City from the American Museum of Natural History on Saturday, December 2, to protest the resumption of the war in Gaza and call for a permanent ceasefire. Demonstrators stormed The Shops at Columbus Circle, an upscale shopping mall, chanting, "While you're shopping, bombs are dropping!" Several protesters turned violent, smashing shop windows inside the mall. rrdailyherald.com


Rite Aid plans to sell 79 more stores
The drugstore chain has been shedding leases as a way to optimize its portfolio following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

CVS Launches Programs to Add Transparency to Prescription Pricing
CVS Health will launch a new model for pharmacy reimbursements designed to bring greater transparency and simplicity to the system.

Restaurant openings up year-over-year - so is diner spend, tipping

Sam's Club adds 2 more distribution centers to its 2024 lineup

Fallout Continues After Staples Cyberattack
Staples Hit With Disruption After Cyber-Attack
Staples is still suffering disruption after being hit by a cyber-attack late last week, the retailer has revealed. The office supplies giant apologized to customers for any inconvenience, in an updated service message on its main website.

"We continue to experience disruption of our communications and our customer service lines. All other aspects of our order processing and delivery operations are functioning normally," it said. "We are working diligently to restore our customer service lines and look forward to talking to you soon."

Earlier reports said the cyber-attack, which was first revealed by the firm on Thursday, had caused temporary disruption to Staples' processing and delivery at a critical time for retailers.

A statement sent to ABC News claimed the disruption was caused by the "proactive steps" the retailer took to "mitigate the impact and protect customer data."

That would seem to suggest a ransomware attack, which often forces organizations to unplug systems from the internet to contain the spread of an attack. In fact, much of the $100m that MGM Resorts claimed to have lost in a recent ransomware attack came as a result of disruption to services, including slot machines, that occurred when IT systems were taken offline.

"All of our systems are in the process of coming back online and we expect to return to normal functionality in short order," a Staples spokesperson told the US news channel.  infosecurity-magazine.com


'Fake Security Alert' Being Used to Hijack Websites
WordPress Bug 'Patch' Installs Backdoor for Full Site Takeover

A faux security alert purports to provide a fix for an RCE flaw, but instead creates a user with admin privileges and spreads a backdoor to infected sites.

Attackers are targeting WordPress users with a fake security alert that warns of a fabricated remote code execution (RCE) flaw; it offers a "patch" that in actuality spreads malicious code that can hijack the site.

The email campaign, identified by researchers at both Wordfence and Patchstack, impersonates WordPress and warns users of a vulnerability, CVE-2023-45124, urging them to click on a link to download a plugin that will fix the flaw.

"This is not a legitimate email and the plugin that they are asking you to download and install will infect your website with a backdoor and malicious administrator account," Patchstack warned users in a blog post about the campaign.

Attackers can use the backdoor to conduct malicious activity, such as injecting advertisements into the site, redirecting users to a malicious site, or stealing billing info, according to Patchstack. They also can leverage it for distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, or can blackmail site owners by making a copy of the site's database and then holding it hostage for a cryptocurrency payment. darkreading.com


Warning for iPhone Users
Experts Warn of Sneaky Fake Lockdown Mode Attack
A new "post-exploitation tampering technique" can be abused by malicious actors to visually deceive a target into believing that their Apple iPhone is running in Lockdown Mode when it's actually not and carry out covert attacks.

The novel method, detailed by Jamf Threat Labs in a report shared with The Hacker News, "shows that if a hacker has already infiltrated your device, they can cause Lockdown Mode to be 'bypassed' when you trigger its activation."

In other words, the goal is to implement Fake Lockdown Mode on a device that's compromised by an attacker through other means, such as unpatched security flaws that can trigger execution of arbitrary code. thehackernews.com


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