Unlocking the Power of EAS Security Tags: Boost Your Retail Business Security

What are EAS Security Tags?

Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) security tags are small devices attached to merchandise to prevent theft. There are two primary types of EAS security tags:

1. Acousto-Magnetic (AM) Tags: These tags operate on a low-frequency magnetic field and are known for their strong detection performance and minimal interference with other electronic devices.

2. Radio Frequency (RF) Tags: These tags utilize high-frequency radio waves and are valued for their cost-effectiveness and compatibility with a wide range of products.

Both types of tags can be either hard tags (reusable) or soft tags (adhesive labels), depending on your store's requirements and the type of merchandise being protected.

Benefits of EAS Security Tags

EAS security tags offer several advantages for retailers, including:

1. Theft Deterrence: The mere presence of EAS security tags on merchandise acts as a strong deterrent for potential shoplifters, as the risk of getting caught is significantly higher.

2. Higher Profitability: By reducing theft, EAS security tags contribute to higher profit margins and a more stable bottom line.

3. Inventory Control: EAS security tags help maintain accurate inventory counts, leading to more efficient stock management and better customer satisfaction.

4. Improved Aesthetics: EAS security tags are discreet and blend seamlessly with various types of merchandise, preserving the visual appeal of your store.

5. Easy Integration: EAS systems are compatible with most Point of Sale (POS) systems and can be easily integrated into your existing retail setup.

Implementing EAS Security Tags in Your Store

To get the most out of your EAS security tagging system, consider the following steps:

1. Choose the Right System: Evaluate your store's needs and select the appropriate EAS technology (AM or RF) and tag type (hard or soft) based on your merchandise and store layout.

2. Strategic Tag Placement: Place tags on high-value items and strategically position them to avoid easy removal by shoplifters.

3. Staff Training: Train your staff on the proper use of the EAS system, tag removal, and how to handle alarms effectively.

4. Monitor and Maintain: Regularly monitor the performance of your EAS system and ensure it is well-maintained to avoid false alarms and achieve optimal results.

WH Sends "Strong Signal" to the Surveillance Industry
U.S. blacklists spyware companies, citing security threats
The Biden administration on Tuesday added the foreign commercial spyware companies Intellexa and Cytrox to a federal "entity list" that prohibits American companies from engaging in certain trade activities with them, after determining that the two firms pose a threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.

That action serves as a "strong signal" to entities that use commercial spyware, as well as the surveillance industry as a whole, a senior administration official said.

The decision is part of an ongoing effort to address the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware, according to senior administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to brief reporters on the matter.

The companies added to the entity list include Intellexa S.A. in Greece, Cytrox Holdings Crt in Hungary, Intellexa Limited in Ireland, and Cytrox AD in North Macedonia. They are being penalized for "trafficking in cyber exploits used to gain access to information systems, thereby threatening the privacy and security of individuals and organizations worldwide," according to an update in the Federal Register. washingtonpost.com


Europol Report: Law Enforcement's Perspective on the State of Cybercrime
IOCTA 2023: forget hackers in a hoodie, cybercrime has become a big business

Europol report offers a unique law enforcement perspective on the state of cybercrime

Forget the cliché of a solitary figure in a hoodie hunched over a keyboard in a dark room crunching lines of codes. It is an image that no longer accurately reflects today's cybercrime landscape, where criminals operate as business-like syndicates across borders.

Europol's ninth Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA), whose first module is published today, takes an in-depth look into the online criminal ecosystem, examining notable actors, their attack vectors and victims.

Cybercrime has become a big business, with an entire illicit economy set up to support it with service providers, recruiters and financial services. This makes investigating cyber-attacks ever more challenging for law enforcement, with multiple specialised actors working on parts of the criminal process from every corner of the globe.

Europol's IOCTA aims at providing and understanding of modern cybercrime to equip law enforcement with the knowledge to fight back. This report and accompanying modules are based on operational information contributed to Europol's European Cybercrime Centre, combined with expert insights and open source intelligence.

Focus of the report:

• Cybercriminal services are intertwined
• Similar techniques for different goals
• The central commodity is stolen data
• Same victims, multiple offences
• The underground communities to educate and recruit cybercriminals
• What happens with the criminal profits?
• Europol's support

The current summary presents the main overarching findings concerning the different typologies of cybercrime, namely cyber-attacks, online fraud schemes and online child sexual exploitation. It will be followed by a series of spotlight publications covering each of the crime areas in-depth.

Read the report


FBI Takedown: UAE Expelled BEC Cybercriminal Causing $59M in Loses for U.S. Companies
DOJ: International Cyber Fraudster Sentenced to 8+ Years in Federal Prison
CHICAGO - A resident of the United Arab Emirates who orchestrated an $8 million cyber fraud scheme targeting several United States-based companies has been sentenced to more than eight years in a U.S. prison.

OLALEKAN JACOB PONLE, also known as "Mr. Woodbery," and "Mark Kain," 31, was living in the UAE in 2019 when he worked with co-schemers to engage in numerous business email compromise schemes. The co-schemers used phishing links to gain unauthorized access to email accounts and then created false instructions directing employees of the victim companies to wire money to bank accounts opened by money mules at Ponle's direction. The fraudulent emails often claimed to be from the company or a known business contact and were nearly identical to prior legitimate emails sent over the company's email account. After unwitting employees wired money, in some cases millions of dollars, to the bank accounts, Ponle instructed the money mules to convert the proceeds to Bitcoin and send them to him.

As a result of Ponle's scheme, victim companies suffered more than $8.03 million in actual losses and more than $51.3 million in intended losses. One of the victim companies was based in Chicago, while others were located in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New York, California, and elsewhere.

Ponle is a Nigerian national who was arrested in June 2020 by law enforcement in the UAE. He was subsequently expelled from the UAE into the custody of the FBI and arrived in Chicago the following month. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal wire fraud charge. justice.gov


Cybersecurity labels for smart devices are on their way

VirusTotal Data Leak Affects 5K+ Users

Fraudster Hits 21 States For $733,000 in Gift Cards
DOJ: Pennsylvania Man Gets Two Years in Federal Prison for Participation in Nationwide Fraud Scheme
WILMINGTON, Del. – A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania man was sentenced yesterday to two years in federal prison for his participation in a nationwide scheme to fraudulently obtain over $700,000 in gift cards and merchandise from a nationwide home improvement store.

Mamadou Bah, 39, conducted over a thousand fraudulent transactions at home improvement stores throughout the country between May 2018 and June 2020, using the fake name “Richard Traynham.” Bah would pay for gift cards and merchandise at home improvement stores using a barcode on his phone that was linked to fraudulently obtained credit cards. All told, Bah caused losses in excess of $733,000 across stores in 21 states. For this conduct, Bah pled guilty to aggravated identity theft, which carries a two-year mandatory sentence. justice.gov


DOJ: Harrisburg Man Sentenced To 24 Month’s Imprisonment For Aggravated Identity Theft
Amisial Elveus, 32, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on July 11, 2023, by U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer P. Wilson, to 24 months in prison to be followed by 12 months of supervised release for aggravated identity theft.

From July 6, 2020, until November 6, 2020, in Dauphin County, Elveus unlawfully obtained and used credit card account numbers belonging to unsuspecting individuals, used the numbers to code credit cards, and then used the credit cards to pay for gasoline fill-ups for multiple vehicles on multiple days at a Giant gas station on Union Deposit Road in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Elveus was arrested at the Giant on November 6, 2020, while in the process of filling cars with gas that he paid for with a fraudulently encoded credit card.

Judge Wilson also ordered Elveus to pay restitution in the amount of $32,227.71. justice.gov


Fairfax County, VA: Organized theft group arrested in Fairfax County, charged for stealing thousands worth of luxury items in Montgomery County
The Fairfax County Police Department said it was able to prevent an organized retail theft crew from stealing from a McLean store. The group was accused of stealing thousands in luxury goods from a store in Chevy Chase, Maryland on Thursday. On July 13, police received a tip of a retail theft crew that left the Saks Fifth Avenue store in Chevy Chase, Maryland in a gold Chevrolet Impala with Pennsylvania tags. Officers used this information as well as LPR technology and learned that the car was nearby their location in Fairfax County. Fairfax police soon saw the car heading into Saks Fifth Avenue in McLean. Police said that once the suspects were in the store, they grabbed multiple high-end handbags and other luxury merchandise and went towards the exit without paying. When the two suspects were approached by the store’s Loss Prevention team, they ran. Officers who were already in the area were able to take one suspect into custody. Police found the other suspect in a nearby dumpster after searching the area. The driver of the vehicle was also found and taken into custody. A representative from another retail store reported that one of the suspects had stolen from their business.  dcnewsnow.com


San Francisco, CA: Walgreens chain freezers shut after shoplifters rob store 20 times a day
Footage of a San Francisco Walgreens shows the glass doors of the frozen food section chained shut after workers complained that the store gets robbed nearly 20 times a day. The video, posted online by political commentator Richie Greenberg, shows all the doors to frozen microwavable meals held shut by thick chains secured with several large metal locks. Another portion of the clip shows entire aisles locked behind plexiglass fixtures and floor-to-ceiling glass cabinets. Customers must go to a store employee to unlock the display to buy many products, such as hair dye, makeup, shaving cream and over-the-counter medicine. Workers told the local media that shoplifters clean out all the pizza and ice cream from their inventory every night. They also say thieves hit the store and fill their bags with stolen goods 20 times a day. foxnews.com


Mankato, MN: Third man charged with burglary in relation to $33,000 hobby shop burglary
A man who was originally accused of receiving stolen property from the Atlantis Hobby shop now faces a burglary charge related to the April break-in. Stoney Ramell Johnson, 35, was charged with felony third-degree burglary Friday in Blue Earth County District Court, according to an amended criminal complaint. He still faces the felony receiving stolen property charge. Johnson is the third person charged with burglary in connection to the break-in, which reportedly resulted in about $33,000 in merchandise being taken.  mankatofreepress.com


McLean, VA: Organized shoplifting attempt at Saks Fifth Avenue in Tysons foiled
Three people arrested for recently attempting to shoplift from Saks Fifth Avenue in Tysons Galleria were part of an “organized retail theft crew” based in Philadelphia, Fairfax County police say. The three individuals — one man and two women — were seen picking up “multiple high-end handbags and other luxury merchandise” at the store on July 13, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. Officers with the department’s Tysons Urban Team (TUT) had tracked the trio to the store after getting a tip from Sak’s Fifth Avenue’s regional loss prevention team that their vehicle — a gold Chevrolet Impala with Pennsylvania tags — had just left the company’s Chevy Chase store. After taking merchandise at Saks in Tysons, officers saw the individuals start toward the store’s exit without paying, according to police: The FCPD says approximately $15,000 worth of merchandise has been recovered. Some may be from another retail store that reported a theft by one of the suspects. All three individuals face charges of grand larceny, larceny with intent to sell or distribute, conspiracy to commit larceny and organized retail theft. ffxnow.com


Pensacola, FL: Atmore man jailed in Fla. for Lowe’s thefts
An Atmore man, accused of stealing more than $5,000 from several different Lowe’s outlets in and around Pensacola, Fla., remained behind bars in the Sunshine State as this week began. According to Escambia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office reports, 32-year-old Jared Thomas Dean of a Beck Street address apparently decided to “do it right for less.” Dean simply walked out of several Lowe’s stores without paying for the merchandise he took with him. He was arrested July 11 when company loss prevention specialists were finally able to identify him on video surveillance cameras after he ripped off the Lowe’s store on Nine Mile Road in Pensacola. The Atmore man is charged with two felony counts of grand theft and a misdemeanor count of petit theft.  atmorenews.com


Geneva, AL: Florida man facing multiple burglary charges for thousands in Cigarette thefts

Gwinnett County, GA: Police looking for man accused of stealing 11 cell phones from T-Mobile store