Allied Universal Names William J. Walker Vice President and Corporate Security Director
Burlington Stores named Connie Droge Executive Vice President of Stores and Asset Protection
Dick's Sporting Goods promoted Greg Houting, LPC to Field OPS & Safety Manager
Dollar Tree named Rob LaCommare VP of Asset Protection
Dollar Tree named Gianna Davis Asset Protection VP of Investigations
Dollar Tree named Tara Nutley Director of Workplace Violence Prevention
Dollar Tree named Jamie Van Dusen Director of Programs for Asset Protection
Intellicheck Appoints David Jurgens Head of Channel & Technology Alliances
KnitWell Group named Richard Moore VP Field Asset Protection
Piggly Wiggly Midwest, LLC promoted Debra Martin to Sr. Director Retail Operations
 

LPRC IMPACT Conference Expected to Draw Record Attendance
The event is set to take place Oct. 2-4

UF to hold 19th annual, and largest, retail theft conference
UF’s Loss Prevention Research Council will welcome more than 470 attendees next week to its 19th annual Impact Conference, with plans to discuss retail theft and share research from throughout the last year.

Dr. Read Hayes helped found the Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC) in 2000 and now serves as director. He said this conference will be the largest in its history and calls it unique with the blend of academic studies with what retailers have experienced in stores and how prevention companies attempt to solve the issues.

He said the LPRC’s reputation and a growing need likely account for the attendance. The LPRC started by working with 10 retail companies—including Target, Walmart and Home Depot—and now contains 84 retail members and 112 solution members that includes a lot of camera, security and technology companies.

Sessions deal with current research by the LPRC and other retail organizations, including studies around Gainesville and at UF’s Innovation District. Officials from JC Penny and Kroger along with LPRC staff will lead talks like The Retail Security Landscape; Risk, Reward, and Effort: Applying Situational Crime Prevention in Supply Chains; and Collaborating to Reduce Crime in the City.

Gainesville Police Detective Sgt. Nick Ferrara will head up one session on face matching and organized retail crime. Ferrara was recognized by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody earlier this year for his efforts in the sector.

Moody said individuals like Ferrara make Florida stand out as a leader in combating retail crime. Hayes agrees. mainstreetdailynews.com
 

The Woman Behind FTC's Landmark Amazon Case
Lina Khan’s Amazon lawsuit is nothing like her famous law article

The FTC chair has traded some youthful idealism for pragmatism as she takes on the case of a lifetime

Six years ago, a law student named Lina Khan wrote a Yale Law Journal article that held up Amazon as an example of how U.S. antitrust law was broken.

Decades of narrow focus on high prices as the main indicator of monopoly power, she argued, had left the legal and policy world blind to the ways that online platforms were gaining chokeholds on the digital economy. For Amazon, low prices were actually a weapon with which to strangle rivals and small retailers while it gained a chokehold on the e-commerce industry. The paper made Khan the face of a movement to take on Big Tech by radically rethinking competition policy.

On Tuesday, Khan’s Federal Trade Commission filed a landmark antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, alleging that it has abused its power to stifle competition in e-commerce. But the lawsuit, signed onto by 17 state attorneys general, follows a very different logic from her now-famous paper.

Its embrace of conventional antitrust concerns, including high prices for shoppers, and its avoidance of rhetoric about breaking up the company show how the 34-year-old Khan has evolved as a regulator — trading in her academic idealism for a more pragmatic approach as she embarks on what could be the signature case of her career.

In her 2017 law review article, titled “Amazon’s antitrust paradox,” Khan’s target wasn’t just Amazon. It was the “consumer welfare standard,” which holds that big, powerful corporations aren’t a problem as long as they don’t jack up their prices. That laissez-faire approach had dominated antitrust jurisprudence since at least the 1970s, allowing waves of corporate consolidation. Khan argued it was outdated in the digital age.

“We cannot cognize the potential harms to competition posed by Amazon’s dominance if we measure competition primarily through price and output,” she wrote. Instead, regulators should look at how companies like Amazon used low prices to undercut rivals on their way to controlling the critical infrastructure of the digital economy — a position from which they could fend off competitors and give their own products an unfair advantage over everyone else’s. washingtonpost.com

Delivery Options Critical to Making the Sale
Almost all shoppers abandon an online purchase for this reason
Nearly all (95%) surveyed consumers around the globe report they have abandoned a purchase in the past because a preferred delivery option, such as home delivery or the ability to ship to parcel lockers or parcel shops, wasn’t available, according to the Global Online Shopper Survey for 2023 and European Report from DHL.

This figure includes 96% of Canadian and 92% of U.S. respondents. In addition, 75% of global respondents and 72% of European respondents want the flexibility of ensuring their parcel is delivered to another safe place when they’re not at home.

Also, 62% of North American respondents want to know what delivery company handles their parcels before placing an order. More than one-third (35%) of these respondents would abandon their cart if they didn’t trust the delivery provider offered.

Globally, 70% of respondents say knowing about the delivery company is very important, and 43% would cancel an online purchase if they didn’t trust the delivery partner. chainstoreage.com


Study: Online shopping to hold steady this holiday season
 

Online Fraudster With "Professional Runners" Ran Nationwide "Simple Refund" Scheme
DOJ: Dearborn, Michigan man indicted for conspiracy, wire, and mail fraud for nearly $4 million refund fraud on U.S. retailers

Operated “Simple Refunds” where participants pay a fee to get purchase price refunded by lying about status of merchandise

Seattle – A 25-year-old Dearborn, Michigan, man was arrested today on an indictment returned in the Western District of Washington for a fraud scheme damaging retailers across the country.

Sajed Al-Maarej allegedly operated “Simple Refunds” through the messaging service Telegram, where coconspirators were encouraged to purchase items from retailers Al-Maarej claimed he could defraud. Al-Maarej and his staff of “professional refunders” impersonated the purchaser and lied to the retailer about the status of the item to secure a refund for the purchaser, while permitting the purchaser to keep the ordered item. In Western Washington alone, one company lost $1.4 million to the fake refund scheme.

Between September 2020 and December 2022, Al-Maarej represented to prospective purchasers that they could buy high value goods and keep them, while falsely claiming to the merchant company that a refund was due. The end goal was for the purchaser to keep the product and get their money back. The purchaser then paid Al-Maarej 15-25% of the purchase price as his fee.

Al-Maarej engaged in fraudulent refunding activity as well, requesting more than $1 million in refunds from retailers throughout the country. In one instance, Al-Maarej obtained a refund for bulky tools, but he returned to the retailer an envelope filled with plastic toy frogs. He claimed that he personally obtained more than $70,000 in refunds from a Western Washington-based retailer. Al-Maarej boasted about his personal refunding achievements on Simple Refunds to lend credibility to his scheme and attract customers.

The Simple Refunds channel on Telegram amassed a following of more than 1,000 subscribers. Al-Maarej used a second channel to post information on successful refunds.

The total value of the fraudulent refunds through Simple Refunds and Al-Maarej’s own conduct is approximately $3.9 million.

The indictment details how two Snohomish County residents ordered thousands of dollars of merchandise and conspired with Al-Maarej to get the payments refunded. Al-Maarej or others at his direction, allegedly impersonated the buyers, claimed the items had been “delivered not received” and got the purchase price refunded. The customers kept the items.

In May 2022, Al-Maarej deepened his fraud by allegedly offering a “mentorship” program where he would teach others to create their own refunding scams – he charged $6,000 for admission to the program. He boasted that students would “learn from the best in the game, from everything fraud related, to legit businesses and cleaning your money.”

Conspiracy is punishable by up to five years in prison. Mail fraud and wire fraud are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The investigation is open and ongoing with the possibility of additional charges against other defendants. justice.gov


Three Online Fraudsters Get Prison for $1.9M Amazon Shipping/Refund Fraud
DOJ: Bridgeport Man Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding Amazon
RAJHNI YANKANA, 28, of Bridgeport, sentenced today by U.S. District in Hartford to five months of imprisonment, followed five months of home detention and three years of supervised release, for defrauding Amazon.

Yankana created multiple vendor accounts with Amazon allowing him to sell merchandise through the website on a third-party basis. He often opened the accounts using false names, email addresses and other identifying information. After setting up the accounts, Yankana represented to Amazon that he was shipping it valuable merchandise to be held for sale by the company. In reality, he would not ship the merchandise, and would later falsely claim that it had been lost, supporting his false claims with fabricated documents. Amazon sent Yankana a series of refunds for the purportedly lost merchandise.

Yankana defrauded Amazon of $210,836.97. Judge Thompson ordered him to pay full restitution.

Two other individuals involved in this scheme pleaded guilty to the same charge. On September 5, 2023, Oshane Stewart who defrauded Amazon of approximately $742,000, was sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment. Stewart’s brother, Kenoy Stewart, who defrauded Amazon of more than $1 million gets nine months prison, three years supervised release. justice.gov


Four Telephone Scammers Used Target Stores Gift Cards to Fund & Launder Fraudulent Proceeds
DOJ: Three Individuals Convicted for Laundering Money Stolen from Scam Victims Through Gift Cards
A jury in Los Angeles convicted three individuals for their roles in laundering proceeds of large-scale consumer fraud schemes through gift card transactions. Blade Bai, Bowen Hu and Tairan Shi were convicted of conspiracy to launder proceeds of wire fraud. Bai was also convicted of a separate money laundering conspiracy count. A fourth defendant, Yan Fu, had previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

Telephone scammers, engaged in government-imposter scams and tech support, instructed victims to purchase gift cards from the retail store Target and provide the scammers with the account numbers and access codes listed on the gift cards. The defendants then distributed the numbers assigned to the gift cards to “runners,” who used the funds on the cards at Target stores (primarily in Los Angeles and Orange counties) to purchase consumer electronics, other gift cards and other items. In one instance presented as evidence at trial, runners acting on behalf of the defendants redeemed gift cards that originated from a victim in Illinois approximately 13 minutes after the victim purchased the cards. Through the purchases and other transactions at multiple Target stores, the defendants and their co-conspirators sought to conceal the fact that the gift cards had been originally funded with fraudulent proceeds. justice.gov


Palmdale, CA: Smash-and-grab robbers storm Palmdale jewelry store
Security cameras captured the moment a group of smash-and-grab robbers escaped with over $15,000 worth of merchandise in Palmdale on Thursday. The owners of Kimberly’s Jewelry located on the 440 block of E Palmdale Boulevard said the theft happened around 12:06 p.m. when three masked thieves stormed into the shop. Video shows one suspect immediately spraying the security guard with bear spray before directing the spray toward two other employees. A second suspect wielding a hammer focused on smashing the store’s glass display cases. A third suspect followed closely behind and was seen grabbing all the jewelry and merchandise from the shattered display cases and throwing them into a large plastic bin.  ktla.com


Philadelphia, PA: Sporting Goods warehouse the target of Looters
Reports of looters taking over a Snipes Warehouse, which is a supply warehouse for Snipes sneaker stores around the area. Another just looted spot in NE Philadelphia on scene where truck trailer loaded with sneakers & shirts, jackets. At warehouse dock along State Road. “It may be a Snipes warehouse.” sources tell me. “It appears they took all they could & left a lot behind.”, said Steve Kelley of Fox 29.  fox29.com


Spokane, WA: Police Investigate Recent Theft Spree by Traveling Groups
The Spokane Police Department’s SPEAR unit (Stolen Property Enforcement and Recovery) is investigating a recent increase in thefts committed by what appears to be several groups of travelers, many of Romani descent. These groups move through cities, committing crimes for several days before moving on. The crimes include selling fake gold, Buddhist Temple burglaries, and mass shoplifting by women and children. The most recent trend occurred in late September when a group of thieves stole more than $6,000 worth of Similac baby formula from multiple grocery stores in Kennewick, Spokane, Liberty Lake, Post Falls, and Coeur d'Alene. At times, the thieves have wiped out entire store shelves of their supply of baby formula. These groups are often large and use children and multiple people to distract employees. They often wear sandals, and the women wear long dresses. They tie duffel bags around their waists under their dresses, fill them with merchandise, and waddle out of the store.  bigcountrynewsconnection.com


Lincoln, NE: $20K worth of left shoes stolen from vintage clothing shop
Authorities are investigating the theft of $20,000 worth of the left shoes from a vintage designer clothing and sneaker shop in Nebraska. Surveillance video released by Lincoln Crime Stoppers shows one of three people slip through security bars into Exclusive Hype after smashing the store’s window. They first tried to pull off the building’s door with a vehicle but were unsuccessful, according to Lincoln Crime Stoppers. Officials said the trio was able to get away with $20,000 worth of the left shoes of sneaker pairs, as the right shoes are stored in another room of the building. The video also shows them stealing apparel from the store.  wyomingnewsnow.tv


Las Vegas, NV: Couple charged in connection with theft of designer items from Strip luxury stores
A Las Vegas couple has been charged with taking part in stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of Dior, Versace, Ferragamo and other expensive designer merchandise from Saks Fifth Avenue and Sephora stores on the Strip from June to last week. Naisha Adams, 36, and Taurean Henderson, 38, were booked on Sept. 22 into the Clark County Detention Center following their arrest at Saks Fifth Avenue, 3200 Las Vegas Blvd. South, after allegedly trying to make off with nearly $2,300 in luxury products, according to the Metropolitan Police Department reported.  reviewjournal.com
 

NRF has declared Oct. 26 as Fight Retail Crime Day

 A day of action to unite the retail community to advocate for solutions in combating organized retail crime.