NRF’s Operation Open Doors ‘like having a roadmap’ to reopening after COVID-19
Developed with input from hundreds of retailers brought together by NRF, the initiative provides operational guidelines and considerations in four areas: health and safety, people and personnel, logistics and supply chain, and litigation and liability. An online resource center includes an interactive map of coronavirus rules, regulations and other information from all 50 states down to the city and county levels including the status of stay-at-home orders. A federal agency and state tracker offers information on loan forbearance and lease enforcement, and a 10-page checklist addresses issues from appointing a “return to work” team to how to sanitize cash registers and restrooms.

The guidance emphasizes a gradual, phased-in approach to reopening the economy and retail facilities. Materials created so far focus on dozens of critical topics that need to be addressed, and retailers organized into working groups based on the four main categories are continuing to meet weekly by conference call to address details and develop additional guidance.

How to Accommodate At-Risk Workers
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has updated its guidance on COVID-19 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), clarifying how to accommodate individuals who are at high risk for severe illness from the coronavirus.

Read more about: Direct-Threat Standard | At-Risk Workers | What If the Employee Does Not Request an Accommodation? | Managerial Training | Responsive Process | shrm.org

LP Director Warns of Risks Arising from the Accumulation of Cargo
The current pandemic has disrupted global supply chains in a wide variety of ways. In particular, the lag in its effects between the large-scale sourcing regions of China and other parts of Asia and the consuming markets of Europe and North America has caused significant build-ups of goods produced in the former regions but not now required in the later.

“Security is clearly the most dominant of the risk issues as operators seek alternative storage,” comments Michael Yarwood, Managing Director Loss Prevention at TT Club. “Whether it’s taking up buildings not usually used for storage or laden vehicles parked adjacent to a full warehouse, or simply facilities unfamiliar to the operator, the security regime may not be of a similar standard. This concern is not just limited to fencing, lighting, security patrols and CCTV, but also communication with hauliers delivering cargo to the unfamiliar premises. There is also the constant danger of vehicles being diverted into the hands of criminals; so-called round the corner theft,” emphasises Yarwood. sdcexec.com

Why are some flights still full?
U.S. airlines are facing a new challenge over whether to fill planes to claw back revenue at the expense of social distancing. Passenger numbers are increasing on domestic flights, leading to customer complaints over close proximity to others, despite heavyweights such as United Airlines claiming 85% of its flights are less than half full. U.S. carriers slashed their schedules by 90% or more in May given the absence of customers, with industry leaders foreshadowing hefty job cuts in the near future as government bailouts dry up. linkedin.com

60 Minutes shows Amazon’s virus-killing robot;
Amazon using AI to enforce social distancing
Amazon is developing a robot that would roll through grocery stores and distribution centers, using banks of ultraviolet light to kill viruses on surfaces.

The company provided “60 Minutes” with video of a prototype of the robot for a report Sunday night about Amazon’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, and the backlash from workers who want the company to close down distribution centers for cleaning and disinfection when employees test positive.

It’s part of a technological show-of-force from the company, seeking to demonstrate its efforts to battle COVID-19 in the face of criticism from employees and others.

In addition, 60 Minutes reports that Amazon is “trying to enforce social distancing by videotaping all its employees and using artificial intelligence to study their movements.” The report notes that cameras are “also being used for contact tracing in order to identify workers who came in contact with a sick colleague and send them into quarantine.” geekwire.com

A seventh Amazon employee dies of COVID-19 as the company refuses to say how many are sick

Jeff Bezos Is Expected to Become the World’s First Trillionaire by 2026

Amazon to bring new COVID-19 face shield model to market

CVS Health opening 50 COVID-19 test sites this week

Parent company of Coach reopening stores by market

Apple to Reopen 10 of 17 Retail Stores in Italy Next Week

Rag & Bone Lays Off Retail, Corporate Workers

Kroger Hires 100,000 in Last 8 Weeks

Kroger to wind down 'hero' pay; union urges to keep 'for as long as we face a global pandemic'

Gov. Cuomo extends New York’s stay-at-home order until June 13

New Jersey OKs nonessential retail curbside pickup

Ontario to allow stores and other businesses to reopen May 19

US grocery costs jump the most in 46 years, led by rising prices for meat and eggs

1 in 4 restaurants won't re-open after pandemic, study says

 

Digital Fraudsters Increase Attacks Against Multiple Industries During Pandemic; Use COVID-19 Scams to Target Younger Generations

TransUnion quarterly global fraud analysis also examines the types of fraud targeting businesses and where it originates

TransUnion today released its quarterly analysis of global online fraud trends, which found that the telecommunications, e-commerce and financial services industries have been increasingly impacted. From a consumer perspective, TransUnion found Millennials have been most targeted by fraudsters using COVID-19 scams.

Overall, TransUnion found the percent of suspected fraudulent digital transactions rose 5% when comparing the periods Jan. 1-March 10 and March 11-April 28. TransUnion identified more than 100 million suspected fraudulent transactions from March 11-April 28.

“Given the billions of people globally that have been forced to stay at home, industries have been disrupted in a way not seen on this massive of a scale for generations,” said Shai Cohen, senior vice president of Global Fraud & Identity Solutions at TransUnion. “Now that many transactions have shifted online, fraudsters have tried to take advantage and companies must adapt. Businesses that come out on top will be those leveraging fraud prevention tools that provide great detection rates and friction-right experiences for consumers.”

Examining Fraud Types and Their Impact on Industries
globenewswire.com

Security Chiefs Look to Justify Cybersecurity Costs During Business Downturn

Tools for remote work, such as VPNs and multifactor authentication, get a pass

Companies are preparing for possible cuts to cybersecurity budgets because of the economic downturn triggered by coronavirus lockdowns, industry analysts say.

The pandemic has caused a range of businesses to furlough or layoff employees and freeze technology and cybersecurity projects as they anticipate a financial hit from the health crisis.

“Security will have to tighten its belt just like everyone else,” said Paul McKay, a senior analyst at Forrester Research Inc. In recent years, corporate cybersecurity budgets were often shielded from cuts in other business areas, he added, but this will likely change for some companies.

Cybersecurity leaders should expect budget decreases - and potentially large cuts in hard-hit industries - over the next year, said Sam Olyaei, research director at Gartner. Some corporate security professionals in hospitality and retail have told Mr. Olyaei that they have been asked to reduce staff, he said.

The economic downturn will dramatically change firms’ short-term cybersecurity priorities. Businesses are likely to continue funding projects that help employees work remotely, such as virtual private networks, multifactor authentication and tools to secure connections to corporate applications, Mr. Olyaei said. wsj.com

Google sees cloud as key to retail COVID-19 response
COVID-19 is having a varying impact on retailers, but Google views cloud computing as the platform to solve underlying industry issues. Chain Store Age recently spoke with Pravin Pillai, global lead, industry solutions, retail, Google Cloud, about how the pandemic is affecting retailers and how they can leverage cloud-based solutions to meet rapidly changing customer needs.

According to Pillai, retailers need cloud-based, agile e-commerce systems that will allow them to add capacity quickly and provide a modern customer experience. This experience must include quick, responsive online customer service.

Pillai also advises them to adopt cloud solutions to become more agile on the back end. “Retailers must think through the supply chain,” he said. “How do you make the supply chain more predictive and responsive to changing demand scenarios? There is a digital acceleration. As more shopping and product moves online, it stretches the physical capacity of retailers.” chainstoreage.com

Number of publicly reported breaches in Q1 2020 down 58% compared to LY,
But total number of records stolen skyrocketed 273%
The total number of publicly reported breaches in Q1 2020 has decreased by 58% compared to the same period last year, Risk Based Security reveals.

Despite this, the number of records exposed for this quarter skyrocketed to 8.4 billion – a 273% increase compared to Q1 2019, and a record for the same period since at least 2005, when detailed reporting began. helpnetsecurity.com

CISA Releases Notice of Funding Opportunity for Emergency Communications

78% of Organizations Use More than 50 Cybersecurity Products to Address Security Issues

ACI Worldwide: Global e-commerce sales skyrocket in April; fraud up over last year
The COVID-19 crisis continued to drive global e-commerce sales in April. Sales in the general retail sector rose 209% in April compared to the same period last year, according to an analysis by ACI Worldwide of hundreds of millions of e-commerce transactions from global online retailers. Following general retail, the gaming segment saw the biggest bump, up 126% in April.

Fraud attempt rates reached 4.3% in April, slightly down from 5.3% in March, but still up from 3.8% compared to this time last year. Attempted fraud is focused on segments that have seen high sales growth, such as consumer electronics, with the average ticket price of attempted fraud up $26.

Click-and-collect—or buy online, pick-up in store—also accounted for a rise in attempted fraud. The transactional value of attempted fraud rose by 9.9%, reflecting fraudsters’ continued emphasis on popular high-value items including laptops and TVs. chainstoreage.com

Americans are shopping more impulsively online

Is pandemic anxiety driving increase in impulse buying?

People confined to their homes during a time of pandemic react in many different ways. Recently released research shows that many people who stay at home for extended periods of time increase the amount of money they spend on impulse purchases online.

A poll conducted in January by OnePoll for Slickdeals, a crowdsourced shopping platform, found that the 2,000 Americans it surveyed spent an average of $155.03 on impulse purchases. In a new poll taken last month, the average spent on impulse purchases rose to $182.98, an 18 percent gain.

For 72 percent of those surveyed, impulse purchases are a form of retail therapy that helps lift their moods at a time when many are concerned about what the future holds for themselves and those they love. retailwire.com

Amazon hires 1,500 to open first pandemic-era fulfillment center in Dallas

FedEx, Strained by Coronavirus, Caps How Much Retailers Can Ship From Stores

D&D Daily Survey Ends May 15
How will COVID-19 impact Loss Prevention & Organized Retail Crime at your stores as the nation prepares to reopen?

The industry values your input! The D&D Daily wants to hear your thoughts as retail prepares to reopen following mass closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given the past seven weeks, we've all had a chance to think about what is going to happen as we reopen the doors, but are we prepared for the impact the pandemic will have on Loss Prevention and Organized Retail Crime?

What does ORC look like in the coming months? How are your stores preparing?

Click here to share your thoughts!
 

Secret Service Bust Fake ID & Credit Card Factory in Attic
Bergen County Man Charged in Large-Scale Identity Theft
Michael Fulcher, 35, of Teaneck, New Jersey, was arrested this morning by special agents of the U.S. Secret Service and charged by complaint with one count each of possession of 15 or more counterfeit access devices, possession of access device-making equipment, and aggravated identity theft.

On March 23, 2020, Fulcher was found to be in possession of identity theft and access device-making equipment in the attic of his Teaneck home. Law enforcement officers seized a large amount of equipment that was used to produce fraudulent credit cards, driver’s licenses, counterfeit money, and counterfeit identification cards. Fulcher had 4,920 counterfeit credit cards, 206 counterfeit driver’s licenses from 24 different states containing victims’ personal identifiable information along with unknown suspect photographs, several state’s holograms for driver’s licenses, devices used to read the data that is encoded on the magnetic strip of a credit card, devices used to re-encode data onto the magnetic strip of a credit card, printers designed to print plastic cards, and several laptop computers, hard drives, memory devices, and other electronic devices.

Law enforcement officers searched the electronic devices found in Fulcher’s home and found, among other things, templates to create credit cards, currency, and identification documents, including driver’s licenses, and spreadsheets containing thousands of unique credit card account numbers. justice.gov

Boise, ID: Boise police recover stolen merchandise after dismantling Reshipping Scam
Boise Police officers recently recovered thousands of dollars’ worth of stolen items being shipped through Boise by unsuspecting residents as part of a reshipping scam. Police began investigating the scam a week ago after police in Gilbert, Arizona, contacted them about a financial fraud case, according to a news release from the Boise Police Department. The suspect in the Arizona case is accused of committing financial fraud and sending the purchased items to a Boise address.

Police began to monitor the packages being sent to the address and eventually seized almost 50 packages, worth nearly $10,000, according the release. On Tuesday, officers visited the address and found another $7,000 in stolen merchandise — the residents of the home had been scammed into reshipping stolen merchandise. idahopress.com

Fairfield, CA: ‘Covergirl Bandits’; Cosmetics Thieves Hit Fairfield Target Store; 2nd Shoplifting Attempt Foiled
Police in Fairfield were looking for the public’s help in finding three female suspects who stole cosmetics from a Target store, later returning to the same store to try it again. The Fairfield Police Department posted images of the suspects, who appear to be in their late teens/early 20s, on its Facebook page Thursday. “It’s a shame individuals are taking advantage of our local businesses during #COVID19, or any time,” the caption said. “Lets catch these Covergirl bandits!” The three stole over $2,500 worth of cosmetics from the Target store at 2059 Cadenasso Dr. in Fairfield, police said. Two days later, they returned to the store and tried to make off with more merchandise, but the store loss prevention team stopped them and they left in a silver SUV, police said. sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com

Oklahoma City, OK: Two women shoplift 50 items from OKC mall
The OKC Police Department is looking to identify two women. Police say the women stole nearly 50 items from a northwest OKC mall. Reports say the women hid the items in liners sewn on the inside of their skirts. okcfox.com

Jacksonville, FL: Once Upon a Child hit by Shoplifters shortly after reopening; hundreds of dollars in merchandise stolen

Queensbury, NY: A Glens Falls man arrested for $1,800 tool from Lowes

Avon, OH: Two women charged in $1,000 alleged theft at Meijer

York, PA: Woman charged with theft also took $700 in items from Weis

UK: Winchester, England; Gang of four stole $100,000 of mobile phones in Weston-super-Mare and seven other counties