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Intellicheck Offers Free Fraud Protection to Financial Institutions and Retailers as Online Fraud Soars During Nationwide Stay-At-Home
Intellicheck, Inc. (Nasdaq: IDN) is offering its leading fraud fighting technology solution Retail ID Web to banks, credit card issuers, payment providers and retailers at no cost for 90 days in response to the explosion in online fraud during the nationwide COVID-19 stay-at-home and limited reopening environment. Multiple financial institutions and retailers are using this tool to stop fraudulent account takeovers, new account openings and purchases in this increasingly person-not-present environment. Read more in today's Vendor Spotlight column below.

Genetec prioritizes digital initiatives for 2020 to help customers and partners stay connected and informed
Genetec Inc., a leading technology provider of unified security, public safety, operations, and business intelligence solutions today announced that it is significantly expanding its digital initiatives to make it easier for customers and partners to stay connected and informed over the coming months. Following the success of Genetec Connect’DX, the Genetec virtual trade show and conference, the company is planning a similar event in the fall. Genetec is also ramping up its education programs with the immediate online availability of its entire technical curriculum including instructor-led classes, bespoke training, and self-paced learning options.

Over 40 hours of content from Connect'DX is now available on demand from the registration page, for existing registrants, and the post show registration page for newcomers. genetec.com

Planning to Reopen Your Retail Store?
Stop the Spread of Germs at the POS Checkout
Retailers worldwide are fighting endlessly to protect their businesses, employees, customers and families. As retailers start to reopen, they need solutions that can protect the customer AND the cashier by reducing the spread of contagious, airborne germs commonly spread by coughing or sneezing.

Learn more about The Guardiant Shield from APG Cash Drawer.
 

Coronavirus Tracker: May 7

US: Nearly 1.3M Cases - 76K Dead - 214K Recovered
Worldwide: Over 3.8M Cases - 268K Dead - 1.3M Recovered

U.S. Law Enforcement Deaths | NYPD Deaths: 38
Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 89
 

Retail Workers Facing Unprecedented Violence

Dollar General is thriving. But workers say they pay the price.

Employees have been stabbed, fatally shot, held at gunpoint, punched and pistol-whipped on the job.

While most American retailers have been tightening their belts over the past few years, Dollar General has become a $40 billion behemoth, opening around three stores every day — and rewarding its investors with handsome profits. Even in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic, Dollar General is still growing. Its stock price reached a record high last month, as consumers lean on its stores to stock up on essential items. It announced it will hire 50,000 people to support the influx of shoppers.

But its explosive growth comes at what some say is a human cost.

Stores are open for business with rodent infestations, rotting food, exposed electrical wires and broken toilets, according to an NBC News review of health inspection reports and interviews with more than a dozen current and former Dollar General workers.

Employees say they have been stabbed, shot, held at gunpoint, punched and pistol-whipped on the job. Some have been made to work by flashlight during regional electrical blackouts. Some are left alone in stores for hours, working under a payroll system so tightly controlled that managers say they work overtime stocking shelves, a cost-cutting measure that has led to multiple class-action lawsuits against Dollar General.

In all, 27 workers and five customers were injured during violent robberies at Dollar General stores across the country from January 2019 to January 2020, according to 318 news reports analyzed by NBC News. During the incidents, four store associates and two customers were shot. Three store associates were stabbed.

"Dollar General is a company that has a business model based on essentially breaking the law and cutting corners when it comes to basic worker safety," said Debbie Berkowitz, head of the worker safety and health program at the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group, who has studied workplace violence at convenience stores.

Dollar General declined to specify its security measures to NBC News. But it said such measures "take into account not only federal and state laws and requirements, but also reflect the highest levels of retail industry standards and law enforcement agency recommendations." nbcnews.com

Experts: Murder of Family Dollar security guard part of rising trend of aggression as coronavirus lockdowns are lifted

For minimum wage, retail workers put up with a lot. They work one of the highest risk jobs for workplace violence, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ranging from verbal abuse and harassment to physical attacks.

During the coronavirus pandemic, these essential workers are putting their own health at risk to serve customers, some of whom are returning the favor with aggression. Experts told Business Insider that acts of aggression are rising in the retail sector and may only get worse as more stores reopen under new health-conscious policies.

At a Family Dollar store in Flint, Mich., what started as verbal aggression quickly turned deadly for a security guard who refused to allow a customer into the store without a state-mandated face mask.

"In 30 plus years of studying retail and crisis situations, we have never seen a situation of customers being so rude to hourly employees," Larry Barton, a public safety and crisis management expert, wrote in an email to Business Insider. "It's demoralizing and, as we saw with the shooting of the security guard, a sometimes deadly environment.”

Workers at convenience stores, gas stations and businesses that sell alcoholic beverages are at especially high risk, according to the CDC. Barton told Business Insider retailers need to train their employees to de-escalate hostile situations with customers before the trend grows any further. thehill.com

Oklahoma City, OK: 2 McDonald's employees shot after telling customer dining room was closed due to COVID-19, police say
 

Talk About Lending a Hand - Even The Bad Guys Are Doing It
El Chapo's Daughter Distributing Aid With Dad's Name & Image on Boxes

How terrorist groups and gangs are responding to the coronavirus crisis

It’s not just governors and presidents who are leading the fight against coronavirus — drug dealers, mobsters and terrorists are also battling the bug.

In regions of the globe controlled by shadowy underworld organizations — from Central American narco-strongholds to remote Middle Eastern areas — deadly thugs are doing things like enforcing social distancing and making people wear hand sanitizer.

“A weak pandemic response from a formal government creates an opportunity for the violent group to earn legitimacy in the eyes of the public,” University of Maryland political scientist Jori Breslawski wrote in The Conversation. “Violent groups often take actions to gain legitimacy in order to gain support from civilians living under their rule as well as potential supporters abroad.”

They may have another, simpler motive, too — keeping their own families safe from the deadly contagion, Breslawski said.

MEXICAN DRUG LORDS - Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, 36, and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán, 37 – known as “Los Chapitos, or “Little Chapos” - have heavily armed henchmen roaming the streets of the state capital of Sinaloa to enforce a curfew, the paper says.

Their sister, Alejandrina, and several other cartels have also tried to win over despairing locals — shown in videos handing out coronavirus relief packages to the needy in an apparent PR campaign.

More Gangs & Terrorist Groups
 

The U.S. is Waking Up
Opening & Shutting Their Doors
Hope it isn't a little too early - Shutting down again won't be pretty!

Welcome Back to the Office. Your Every Move Will Be Watched

Employers plan new tools to measure office interactions & track workers’ health

Many Americans heading back to the factory and the office as the coronavirus pandemic eases will soon begin to notice that their every move is being watched or recorded.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said it is preparing to launch this month a phone app for employers that traces contacts by analyzing workers’ interactions in the office. More than 50 clients have expressed interest, including some of the nation’s biggest banks, manufacturers and energy companies.

Many office workers have become used to widespread security cameras and keycards that register entries and exits. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, buildings installed enhanced security measures, including logging in visitors and X-raying briefcases.

The arrival of Covid-19 is taking surveillance to a higher level, with some employers planning to track movements and gather personal information like never before in Western democracies. It marks a new chapter in the debate over privacy, and the trade-offs people are willing to make for safety.

Some companies now see the measures as perhaps the only way to reopen offices without risking a new rise in infections, at least until a vaccine becomes available.

Tracking employees wsj.com

Employees Are Blowing the Whistle on Safety & PPE
Whistleblower Complaints Over Worker Safety Up 30% Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
The number of whistleblower complaints filed with the federal agency OSHA is on the rise and as businesses try to reopen, the tension between employers and employees is expected to escalate.

Some workers are essential and more will be returning to their jobs as social distancing restrictions ease up.

Whistleblower complaints from employees across the country to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, are way up this year compared to last year, 2,293 filed from February through April this year versus 1,767 filed the same time last year, up 30%.

And 932 of those complaints from whistleblowers are directly related to COVID-19 concerns. wcvb.com

Public Opposed To COVID-19 Business Immunity, Poll Finds
64% of Americans are against giving reopened businesses blanket civil immunity for COVID-19 infections suffered by workers and consumers, according to a bipartisan survey commissioned by a plaintiffs attorney group published Wednesday.

In addition, 61% of respondents said granting corporate immunity would result in the spread of COVID-19 and cause more people to get sick, while 60% said if companies knew they couldn't get sued they would take fewer precautions to safeguard their employees and customers. law360.com

COVID-19: Companies With Changed Operations Face New Risk Exposures
A hotel is asked to lease its premises for the operation of a temporary medical facility to actively treat COVID-19 patients. A warehouse is asked to lease its premises to another organization to make temporary use of their facilities for the purpose of convalescing patients. A paper packaging company is required to manufacture protective face masks for medical staff. A gin manufacturer agrees to change distilling operations to produce much-needed hand sanitizer lotion.

The coronavirus outbreak means that many companies have been requested or are actively seeking to change the occupancy at premises to meet current market demand or to support community needs — even large automobile manufacturers are switching production in order to produce parts for crucial respirators. Although such changes are necessary and to be highly commended, this can also result in new risk exposures to a location that may not have been previously considered or evaluated.

When facilities or operations are changed, especially under temporary or hurried conditions, the risk of damages from hazards such as fires, inadequate maintenance of new equipment, or incorrect storage of combustible liquids and materials can increase. Changes in operations and property use can also represent a material change in risk and may require a reconsideration of controls and protection. propertycasualty360.com

Looks Like a Scene Out of The Walking Dead
Scenes From Galleria Dallas Mall in Dallas, Monday May 4th

(Not) Many Americans are getting their first taste of what pandemic shopping looks like at their local mall.

Simon Property Group, the nation’s largest mall operator, reopened several dozen shopping centers across Texas, Georgia and roughly ten other states between Friday and Monday.

There, a new reality is on display: Play areas and water fountains are off limits. Employees wear masks and shopping in groups is banned. Shoppers can also get their temperature checked for free on the premises.

Among other changes: Every other urinal and sink is taped off, and there’s ample space between seating in the food court. Simon also has technologies that will make sure occupancy will not exceed one person for every 50 feet (15 meters).

But despite all the safety measures, the question remains: Will anyone come?

“There are still a lot of people who are scared,” said Jon Reily, global head of commerce strategy at Isobar Global, a global digital agency. “The tricky part for malls is finding that sweet spot. Yes, you can come here and yes, you can be safe.”

So far, the early signs haven’t been encouraging. apnews.com

Retail foot traffic ticks up 15% as states loosen rules
Foot traffic to U.S. retail locations ticked up last week as more states relaxed restrictions imposed to fight the spread of the coronavirus, according to cellphone tracking information provided by data firm Unacast.

The company estimated here there were an average of 192 million visits daily to retail locations for the week through Sunday, May 3, compared with 167 million the week before, a nearly 15% increase.

The number remains more than 40% below estimates of retail foot traffic from the year before. But it also appears to show a slow but steady rise in people’s willingness to venture out as the patchwork of state-level restrictions on commerce gives way to a patchwork reopening. reuters.com


With nearly 60 malls reopened, Simon plots more

Kohl’s: About 25% of stores open by next week

Ulta to reopen about 180 stores on May 11; some to offer hair services


California governor says retail stores in the state can begin to reopen Friday

Maryland could start first stage of reopening next week

No states meet criteria to reopen: Johns Hopkins researcher
 

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Coronavirus Fallout Continues - Retail's 2nd Big Casualty
Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
Neiman Marcus, saddled with debt and hit by the coronavirus pandemic, filed for bankruptcy on Thursday with a deal to hand its business over to its creditors. The luxury department store chain had been struggling with competition from online rivals and dwindling cash before the outbreak. The health crisis exacerbated its problems, forcing it to furlough most of its 14,000 workers and close its 43 Neiman Marcus stores.

It is now the second major retailer to declare bankruptcy during the pandemic, following J. Crew’s filing earlier this week. It is likely not the last. J.C. Penney has also been exploring filing for bankruptcy. Many others are likewise forced to cope with sales that have been cut off and uncertainty over how people will shop in the future. cnbc.com

How J. Crew's bankruptcy sets the stage for a 'shakeout' in retail

Canadian Footwear Retailer ALDO Files for and Obtains Creditor Protection


Brookfield Aims to Spend $5 Billion to Shore Up Troubled Retailers

Firm with heavy mall presence looks to invest in companies hit by the coronavirus crisis

Mall owner Brookfield Asset Management Inc. plans to devote $5 billion to shoring up retailers hit by the coronavirus pandemic, a bet on a beaten-down sector that could also help keep its rent payments rolling in.

The initiative will be aimed at taking noncontrolling stakes in retail businesses with prepandemic revenue of $250 million or more whose sales have plummeted as stores have been forced to close and consumers have remained on lockdown.

The Canadian investment giant plans to finance the program using money from its balance sheet and existing funds and investment strategies. It may also raise additional institutional capital for the program. wsj.com

Gap Sued Over Unpaid Rent at Midtown Manhattan Store
In another sign of the stress faced by retailers whose stores are shuttered by the coronavirus outbreak, Gap Inc. is being sued for not paying rent for a store near New York City’s Times Square. The landlord of the Gap store at 1212 Avenue of the Americas says the apparel giant failed to pay rent for April and May, along with water charges and snow removal, leaving the company with an unpaid bill of $530,334. bloomberg.com

Ross Stores Sued After Allegedly Skipping Out on $5.5 Million in Rent Payments
In a filing in Florida district court yesterday, Palm Springs Mile Associates Ltd. claimed that the off-price retailer owes $5.5 million in unpaid rent on three of its Florida stores. According to the complaint, Ross Stores skipped out on rent payments due May 1 and “has further advised that its non-payment of rent will continue, as a result of the circumstances related to COVID-19.” footwearnews.com

Retailers Canceling Apparel Orders Amid Coronavirus Torments Clothes Makers
The current plummet in apparel demand, caused by the coronavirus pandemic, is ricocheting across the supply chain. Apparel factories often pay for labor and material costs out of pocket or with debt. "Big companies don't pay upfront. Disputes like these have exploded across the garment industry as payments are delayed and orders are canceled by retailers dealing with closed stores and plunging sales.

Factory owners in Bangladesh said they accepted the shift because they worried that if they didn't go along, a competitor from India or Latin America would. They also are reluctant to speak up or take legal action because they don't want to alienate buyers. But business relationships, made over many years, are fraying. wsj.com

Rite Aid Significantly Expands COVID-19 Testing, Adding 46 sites on May 11

'New Normal': CVS CEO says the pandemic will change customers’ shopping, health-care habits

Kohl’s CEO: Our real estate is an asset emerging from the coronavirus pandemic

Costco reports first monthly sales decline since 2009

NRF chief economist: Recovery likely to come in 'fits and starts'