Anybody, primarily grocers, have experience with any fraud related to (legitimately) purchasing large quantities of brand name personal care items in multiples (deodorant, OTC meds) and immediately returning them?

Perp has a history of coupon fraud, so my initial thought was manufacturer rebates for the products. Since the perp returns the merchandise, refund fraud after-the-fact is unlikely as the receipt is essentially disabled for any future returns after the first. Pays in cash, and has the refund sent to card.

If he is getting some sort of manufacturer rebates, does anyone have confirmation that this is a current method of fraud? My only other assumption is some sort of cash laundering, or an entirely new scheme I’ve yet to see. We had an issue with certain coupons for baby formula last year where fraudsters were essentially able to generate their own coupons and were purchasing $50 cans of formula for $2 at self-checks before returning them for full price, so maybe this is a new system-based exploit - although unlikely.

These machines are cool in theory, but we are still seeing people get away with stuff in my store.

Here's what I don't understand. These machines verify that you've made a purchase, but they don't necessarily verify that you've paid for everything you're walking out with.

Theoretically, someone could have an unpaid package of gum in their pocket, purchase a bottle of water, scan the receipt and walk right out. The machine has no way of knowing the difference.

I've tested it myself before my shift.... LOL and I told my boss and he said it is what it is

So what exactly are we accomplishing here? I understand the psychological deterrent, and I suppose it prevents people from simply walking out without buying anything, but it seems like a pretty significant investment in technology that doesn't actually verify what's leaving the store.

For those of you working in LP at stores that have implemented these systems, have you seen any measurable reduction in shrink, or are shoplifters simply continuing to do what they've always done?

Before I used to work LP/AP for a retail giant. I relied heavily on CCTV surveillance, POS feed, And case recording system. My store was in a busy and active area so we had a lot of incidents. My supervisor thought i performed well at my job as I handled a lot of security incidents and was top 5 within the district for case numbers. I usually get abt 20 cases every week on average (40 hr work week).
I thought I was good in LP until I left for a better paying job. It was in a better neighborhood, different company and I was undercover in plainclothes doing physical surveillance. A whole new different environment with no access to any technology (no cameras and no self checkout). Although everyone got less cases because it in a better location, I notice my performance plummeting. Everyone else got more numbers than me while I struggled with physical surveillance. 2 months in and I barely got any recoveries. Does anyone have any advice?

A coworker of mine constantly brags about how much stuff he steals from Coles, Woolworths and other supermarkets in Australia.

According to him, he's been doing it for years without ever getting caught.

He claims he simply puts items into his backpack in certain aisles where there supposedly aren't any cameras. Then he goes to the checkout, pays for just a few items and walks out with a backpack full of unpaid groceries.

He claims he's saved thousands of dollars doing this.

Personally, I find it pretty hard to believe, especially considering how advanced supermarket surveillance technology has become.

I also remember reading somewhere that supermarkets might be using Palantir or similar AI-powered surveillance systems to track customer behaviour. Not sure how accurate that is, though.

Wouldn't AI potentially notice if someone walks around with a full shopping trolley, but by the time they reach the checkout, half the items have mysteriously disappeared?

Even if someone isn't caught in the act, couldn't supermarkets collect footage and evidence over time and eventually identify repeat offenders?

Is it actually realistic to get away with this for years, or is my coworker just talking bullshit? And does anyone know what kind of AI surveillance Coles and Woolworths actually use?

How did you guys find out and how did the termination go.

So a little back story to this, back in may I was talking to my store team when I saw a repeat enter. I've never had a chance to try and stop this guy because he always hit on my days off or after I left randomly every 2-3 months.

I watch as he loads up his cart with shoes, cold weather clothes etc, and starts pacing around the door, I have an amazing store layout and can be right next to the exit out of sight. The subject notices my store team near by and reenters the main part of the store and decides to conceal everything inside of a large suitcase. I let my team know to move away, but to stand close enough to witness if he exits with the suitcase. Low and behold he starts to go. I cut in front of him and do the song and dance, he decides it wasn't worth his time and pulled a relatively large pocket knife and threatens me with it. I watch as he walks off and give info to PD, the guy is gone and isn't found while searching the area.

Now to current day, about 2 weeks after this incident, i'm looking through recent stops around my city just to get an idea of who may or may not be in the area and who pops up first, knife guy. He hit one of the stores a few miles down the road. I inform my team and just go about my day. An hour to close, he enters and starts right where he left off, loading up a cart with more of the same but with a lot more urgency. Thankfully, one of my regular cops was working so I contacted him and we waited. He repeats the same concealment and goes for the door right at close. I exit in front of him and do the song and dance, he already has the knife pulled, i step aside like before and he runs right into the loving arms of 4 officers and a K9.

With this being one of my final big arrests, I'm leaving at the end of the month, it felt good getting him in cuffs.

Stay safe and happy hunting dudes!

Wanted to know how other LP teams handle this when there are a lot of cameras. The actual incident might only last a minute or two but finding the right footage can take way longer, especially when you only have a rough time or location.

Do you mostly rely on motion events and timelines, or are there better ways you’ve found to narrow things down? Wondering what actually works once you’re dealing with a larger camera setup.

If anyone was thinking about it please don’t unless you absolutely need a job. The title is misleading. It’s basically just operations support. Your day consists of filing key logs, waivers, conducting safety audits, monitoring alarms, compliance checks, doing inventory checks, then going on the floor and being a floor employee. You have to wear the company uniform and you must approach every customer and give them customer service. You can’t do apprehensions and you can’t verbalize that you know they have stolen once they leave. There’s talk of making the APCs door greeters. Every APC I’ve talked to hates their job and does not respect AP leadership specifically the Director since restructuring the program. Every manager even HR has a key to your office like there isn’t confidential information in there haha. They can access the cameras as well without needing any permission. Speaking of managers, the position should be a salaried position. You’re the only person in your department. You’re in control over the entire AP program at your store and very much involved like a manager but you get paid hourly and if you’re really unlucky and have zero experience they’ll give you a whopping $15 an hour. You can’t track shoplifters on camera. Zero tolerance. Which makes no sense because you can’t even ask for merchandise back. There is a 20% case acceptance rate for the entire nation. If they don’t see you giving customer service they don’t approve the case. High dollar Known Thefts are a little different since you typically don’t see those in the moment but it has to be over x amount to make a case. Anyway you just have to annoy them with customer service and hope they leave without the merchandise. Now everyone who has done AP before knows this doesn’t de-escalate anything and will almost always cause a scene. At this point you may be thinking.. “hmm well I can just trespass them” SIKE! you must get a fucking manager to do it lmfao. It’s the most clipped wings position I’ve ever seen. All of your colleagues will also 100 percent lose respect for you as well because they don’t understand the rules and nobody cares to tell them what AP is allowed and not allowed to do so they think you’re just scared or don’t care. If you try to explain it to them they just think you’re making excuses or that you should simply just break policies that will get you fired. You have to understand everyone else’s job and procedures but they aren’t taught anything besides their own departments. Lastly, corporate blames everything on AP. If employees aren’t giving customer service it’s AP’s fault. Since they believe the number one way to eliminate shrink is by giving customer service, hence why you are uniformed on the floor harassing everyone you can find. It’s your job to make sure they are doing it despite not being apart of management. So of course they go “why is the non leadership hourly telling us what to do? Leave me alone” If corporate does a store visit and sees that no one is giving customer service then you’re gonna get a bad report. So you’re expected to be able to mind control everyone to do their jobs. I already left and a lot of my peers are on their way out or planning their exits. Proceed with caution and listen to what others are saying about the position because they aren’t lying or bitter.

This is inside the cash drawer at a local pizza place and I was jw if anyone else has seen similar literature inside their register?

Have any of yall been caught shoplifting, and if so, what exactly happens? Is it usually a citation?

Interview coming up for Nordstrom rack APM, wondering if they report to the store manager or the district/area AP manager? Are AP agents in each store or just high risk ones? Hands on or off? How many hours a week? I’m currently at 50 a week.
Also any tips for interview or things to know about Nordstrom AP would be appreciated.

Hey there everyone first time posting. Been a door guy/ LPA2 for TJX roundabout 2 years and wanna invest in some NICE shoes that will treat me very well on long shifts on my feet for many hours.

Seeking recommendations for shoes that will make my neuropathy feel like I'm floating on clouds.

It should be noted that i need them bto come in a 17 as I have big feet and I know some companies only make smaller shoes at times.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read and gave a nice day

Anyone here work for Kohls? I saw this posted near my town, but it mentions a body camera in the application questions. Is this an unformed position, or is it plain clothes? Anything you guys can tell me about the position or salary?

Interviewing for Macys detective position. Anyone know if macys is now hands off company wide? Or are busy locations still hands on? I've seen mixed answers.

I was wondering, have you ever caught a loss prevention employee stealing money or merchandise? I would imagine it's tempting for some since they know where the cameras are, etc.

If so, would you recommend it? How is the pay, hours, responsibilities? I don’t want to quit the company (since I’ve been here for so long) so I was considering asking if there’s LP openings in my store. But I want to get more info before I do that. TIA

Back at it again lookin for ap jobs tell me all ya know if you can please. Basic questions on hands on, responsibilities, day to day, quotas, is it to much for too little pay? Things like that

Hey lps,

I have a question because I am wondering what is going on.

Yesterday, I returned a jeans which I bought two days ago.

The cashier was rubbing the jeans up and down behind the register, for about 30 seconds.

After 30 seconds, the jeans finally popped up on his screen he told me.

I was wondering why he is doing this?