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Letter to the editor

You better watch out

Retail thieves these days are often technically savvy and organized.

By MARK ALBRIGHT, Times Staff Writer
Published December 8, 2007

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'Tis the season for friendly family get-togethers, shopping for loved ones and an inventive burst of retail fraud.

"When sales transactions increase that much, retail theft rises," said Joe LaRocca, vice president of loss prevention for the National Retail Federation. "But we're not talking so much about Little Johnny taking some gum or his mother walking out with a blouse. We're confronted more with organized crime rings that are getting more sophisticated with technology and sometimes get violent."

Gift cards, for instance, may be the most popular gift found under the tree this year. But store security officials say it's also become the fraud du jour now that crooks have figured out how to make their own, use them to launder payoffs through stolen credit card numbers and even sell them well below face value on online auction sites such as eBay and Craigslist.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office arrested a dozen people last year in the Largo Home Depot and Lowe's parking lots who had been peddling gift cards to shoppers at 50 cents on the dollar. The cards had been activated for more than $600,000 using hacked credit card numbers. Among the arrested were local building contractors who bought the cards only to be charged with dealing in stolen property when they tried to cash them.

"Retail theft has a changed lot in the last few years," said Sgt. Daniel Carron, a plainclothes deputy honored by the Florida Retail Federation after he stumbled onto the gift card scam when a woman offered to sell him one. He followed up with stings that nabbed her colleagues. "The bad guys are getting smarter, using technology and working in organized rings," Carron said. "It's an easy way to make $1,000 a day without working."

Like a group his team arrested in a St. Petersburg Marshalls parking lot. They scanned the pavement for the store's cash receipts, which they copied on a laptop computer and printer in their car. Then they shoplifted a pricey item and used the bogus receipt to return it for cash.

Some stores countered with limits on the number of returns a serial return customer can make. So one theft group recruited people waiting for temporary day work near a Tampa bus station.

Another favorite for laundering ill-gotten card numbers: the selection of up to 60 cards good at chains ranging from Applebee's to Yankee Candles hanging from a rack by supermarket checkout lanes. Spreading dozens of cards in small denominations keeps transactions off the radar screen.

Numbers on retail theft trends are kind of sketchy. That's because stores know how much goes out the door ($40.5-billion, up 5 percent in 2007). But they don't know who's taking things or how until they catch them. But while surveys of 150 major retail chains compiled by the University of Florida show inventory losses are flat at 1.6 percent of retail sales, employee theft continued to rise to $19-billion. That led investigators to conclude more rings work with store employees, said Richard Hollinger, the UF professor who compiles the annual national retail theft survey.

Networks of cooperating store detectives traditionally kept store thievery information to themselves, calling law enforcement only to make arrests and press charges. That changed last year when the FBI agreed to oversee a national intelligence gathering and sharing network among the big chains that, for the first time, gives law enforcement access to the information.

FAST FACTS

Shopping security tips

~ Be alert in parking lots. Lock valuables in the trunk. Tell kids where to meet if separated. Remove everything from your purse except what's needed for that shopping trips.
~ Keep your payment card hidden until handing it to a cashier so that guy behind you with a cell phone camera isn't taking a close-up of the number. Keep payment card numbers and toll-free numbers someplace other than a purse or wallet so you can report a loss immediately.
~ When buying gift cards, make sure the amount on the card matches what you bought. Inspect blank cards for scratches and bogus magnetic strips.
~ Only buy online from sites or buyers familiar to you or a reliable friend. Be wary of keying in card numbers if you don't see assurances such as eBay's Pay Pal, GoogleCheckout or Verisign. Use credit cards instead of debit cards to limit potential losses. Check the URL for https// , a closed padlock or a LOCK icon as evidence a site is secure.
~ Read the fine print to know exactly what you're buying: for instance, whether it's new merchandise or reconditioned. Or that your foreign-made Tickle Me Elmo speaks English, not German. Be wary of counterfeit goods sold as the real thing at flea markets.
~ Don't fall for cyber scammers who e-mail convincing copies of brand name Web sites, then "phish" for suckers to volunteer payment card numbers and personal information. Some even pretend their purpose is preventing identity fraud or "phishing."
~ Know return policies before you buy. Many retailers extract restocking fees as high as 25 percent if packing material has been removed. Save receipts for any hope of a cash reimbursement. Many stores only take returns within 30 days, but some extend the deadline. Know the policy so a recipient can take your gift back after Christmas.

Sources: Florida Attorney General's Office, Consumer Reports, Champlain College Center for Digital Investigation.

[Last modified December 7, 2007, 22:44:57]