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The Rise of Digital ORC
Organized Retail Crime Goes Digital: The Rise of Return Fraud Networks

By the D&D Daily staff

As retailers continue to battle in-store theft and large-scale shoplifting rings, a less visible but equally damaging threat has quietly escalated: organized return fraud. What was once considered a series of isolated incidents has evolved into a coordinated effort by sophisticated networks using digital tools to exploit return policies on a national scale.

Unlike traditional theft, return fraud often involves products that were either stolen, purchased using stolen payment credentials or replaced with counterfeit or lower-value items. These goods are then returned for cash, store credit or exchanged for resellable merchandise. Some networks use fake receipts, while others manipulate e-commerce systems with multiple online accounts and bots to file fraudulent returns across platforms.

This emerging trend has taken advantage of the post-pandemic boom in online shopping and increasingly lenient return policies designed to prioritize customer satisfaction. According to recent estimates by the National Retail Federation, return fraud cost U.S. retailers nearly $25 billion in 2023 alone — a figure expected to grow as digital tools become more accessible.

Investigations have uncovered groups that operate across multiple states, shipping stolen or counterfeit goods to addresses where returns can be initiated, then rerouting funds or merchandise through shell accounts. Law enforcement officials note that some of these operations are linked to broader criminal enterprises, including cyber fraud and identity theft rings.

Retailers are responding by investing in AI-driven fraud detection, receipt verification systems and tighter return protocols. However, these measures must strike a balance between loss prevention and preserving the customer experience — especially as frictionless shopping becomes a competitive necessity.

As with many forms of organized retail crime, collaboration remains key. Industry leaders and law enforcement agencies are expanding information-sharing partnerships to track suspicious return behavior patterns across brands and geographies. Emerging task forces are beginning to include cybercrime experts alongside traditional loss prevention teams to better understand the digital footprints of these return fraud operations.

While shoplifting often dominates the headlines, return fraud presents a quieter but equally critical front in the fight against organized retail crime. It requires vigilance not only on the sales floor but across data systems, supply chains and customer service channels.

With technology both enabling and combating this threat, return fraud is becoming one of the most complex challenges facing the modern retail landscape.


Streamlining Theft Reporting in the UK
UK: New crime reporting scheme launched to tackle rising shop thefts

A new crime reporting scheme is aiming to tackle rising shop thefts.

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have launched the UK Partners Against Crime (UKPAC) platform, backed by Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones, to help businesses report retail crime more easily. More than 120 businesses have already signed up, including 22 Sports Direct stores.

Frasers Group, the parent company of Sports Direct, hosted the scheme’s launch at their store in Whiteley Shopping Centre. Donna Jones, Police and Crime Commissioner, said: "Shop theft affects retailers all over Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

The UKPAC platform is designed to speed up reporting, improve evidence gathering, and reduce demand on police resources. It also allows police to track offenders more efficiently and share intelligence.

A pilot in Portsmouth led to the prosecution of 58 repeat offenders, with evidence gathered for more than 900 crimes. Police and Crime Commissioner funding of £177,548 means businesses can use UKPAC free of charge until April 2026.

Retail crime in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight rose by 14.8 per cent in the year up to December 2024, increasing from 13,705 to 15,743 incidents. dailyecho.co.uk


Retailers Lock Down
The Fight Against Shoplifting Reshapes Shopping Experience
Across the retail landscape, a palpable tension is mounting between safeguarding merchandise and preserving a seamless shopping experience for customers. Major chains, grappling with what they report as a significant surge in theft and anti-social behavior, are implementing strategies that are transforming how consumers interact with products on shelves and check out their purchases.

From locking up everyday items like toothpaste and deodorant to rethinking the role of self-checkout stations, businesses are making difficult choices. While these measures are designed to curb losses, they often introduce friction into the customer journey, leading to frustration and even driving some shoppers online. It’s a delicate balancing act with significant financial and experiential implications.

Greggs, the popular bakery chain, has moved sandwiches and drinks behind counters in some stores, ditching the usual self-service fridges. This trial, implemented in at least five locations, is a direct response to higher levels of anti-social behavior and a spate of thefts. The company states it's one of several initiatives being tested where stores are exposed to increased crime. msn.com


MAORCA News
The Mid-Atlantic ORCA Celebrates Partnerships and Makes Exciting Announcements
Thank you to everyone who helped make the 6th Annual MDRA ORC Conference – with MAORCA cohosting – a success, with over 150 attendees and impactful presentations from law enforcement, federal agencies, and retail leaders! MAORCA is proud to launch a strategic partnership with the McAfee Institute, offering members exclusive monthly webinars starting August on ORC, OSINT, trafficking, crypto fraud, and more — complete with CPE credits and scholarship opportunities. Save the date for MAORCA’s 2nd Annual Fall ORC Conference, hosted at Tysons Corner Mall on October 30, 2025. Lastly, MAORCA launches new tools: investigative checklists, pre-sentencing statement guides, and case presentation templates. See more here.

ICYMI: California report examines impacts of new retail theft law

Bill filed in the Texas Legislature targets cargo theft

Organized retail theft happening more in Sarnia: police chief
 

Stores & Restaurants Reeling from ICE Crackdown
In NYC neighborhood, fear of ICE raids hitting restaurants, grocery stores hard
Many Latino restaurant owners say ICE sightings in the area, and ongoing arrests in Manhattan immigration courts, have injected fear into Sunset Park. Sales are down, they say, with many undocumented residents avoiding eating out or shopping, worried that being inside a restaurant or store makes them more vulnerable.

It is just one of the ways President Trump’s sweeping crackdown on immigrants has changed the daily rhythm of life in New York City.

A 62-year-old woman said profits at her Guatemalan restaurant and grocery store near the hilltop park have gone down 30% in the last three weeks. In the past three weeks, her sales have plummeted from roughly $2,400 a day, to $1,700 to $1,800 a day.

In February, the owner said she saw ICE agents stake out a nearby corner on 5th Avenue, a main thoroughfare in the neighborhood, for nearly two weeks, apparently searching for specific people to arrest. More recently, rumors of ICE spotted in the northeastern corner of the neighborhood, at 43rd St. and Fort Hamilton Parkway, bordering Borough Park, swirled in group chats among migrant residents, and on social media Thursday.

The woman said it’s sightings like these that have spooked her regular customers, mostly from Guatemala, from coming into her shop. Aside from local ICE sightings, the blitz of ICE arrests in city immigration courts have left residents uneasy, with reports of people being seized after appearing for routine check-ins coming almost every day.

The crackdown came after White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said recently that the administration was setting a goal of 3,000 arrests by ICE each day and that the number could go higher. nydailynews.com


76% of Businesses Raises Prices Over Tariffs
Survey: Most retailers raise prices, rebuild supply chain in response to tariffs
Most retailers are raising prices, moving production and product sourcing, and taking other actions in response to the Trump Administration’s fluctuating tariffs.

More than three-quarters (76%) of respondents said their businesses had increased the price of goods they sell to mitigate the cost of the new and expected tariffs, according to a survey of U.S. e-commerce professionals by commerce protection provider Signifyd.

The survey, conducted by Talker Research, shows that on average, retailers are passing along 51% of the cost of Trump’s import taxes. Overall, the surveyed merchants, in big numbers, have made big moves in the face of tariffs — including layoffs, store closings, moving production and product sources and rebalancing their inventory.

The survey also indicates that retailers with online businesses have been scrambling since before the 2024 election to brace for higher import taxes. chainstoreage.com


Retail Sales Up 4.95% YoY
NRF: Retail sales inch up in May; pre-tariff ‘pull-forward’ shopping lessens
Retail sales continued to grow in May even though consumers slowed down on stocking up ahead of tariffs, reported the National Retail Federation.

Core retail sales (excluding restaurants, auto dealers and gasoline stations) rose 0.23% month over month in May and were up 4.2% year over year, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, released by the NRF. That compared with increases of 0.9% month over month and 7.11% year over year in April.

Total retail sales (including restaurants but excluding automobiles and gasoline) were up 0.49% month over month and up 4.44% year over year in May. (Unlike survey-based numbers collected by the Census Bureau, the Retail Monitor uses actual, anonymized credit and debit card purchase data compiled by Affinity Solutions and does not need to be revised monthly or annually.)

For the first five months of the year, total sales were up 4.95% year over year and core sales were up 5.24%. chainstoreage.com


Will Inflation Roar Back?
Has Retail Inflation Actually Cooled, Or Is it Set To Ramp Up as 2025 Ends?
The latest consumer price index report issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on June 11 appears to have contained at least a glimmer of hope that inflationary pressure is easing, with the baseline index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) increasing just 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis in May, following a 0.2% uptick in April. Over the course of the past 12 months, the all items index exhibited an increase of 2.4% before seasonal adjustment — and while this figure rests slightly above the Federal Reserve’s stated goal of 2% annual inflation, it is significantly lower than the high observed in June 2022, where year-over-year inflation reached a staggering 9.1%.

Should retail industry experts, as well as consumers, rest easier based on the climbdown from sky-high inflation? That’s debatable, at least according to Forbes contributor — and co-founder and partner at Triangle Capital LLC — Richard Kestenbaum. retailwire.com


Saks Global says it’s back on track with vendors, won’t close stores
Saks Global has mostly smoothed things over with vendors and has no plans to close stores, CEO Marc Metrick told BMO Capital Markets analysts at a recent meeting, according to a Friday client note. 

Consumer sentiment rebounds for first time in six months as tariff shock eases

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