Counterfeit bills at the register became real money at the return desk — and only a statewide pattern made it visible. Some return fraud hides the merchandise. This one hid the money. On November 5, 2026, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced felony charges against four New York men — Fitzroy James, Fabian Coke, Gabriel…

The first fifteen minutes decide whether the store runs tight — or spends the day catching up. Last week’s closing checklist covered how to end the day without leaving the store exposed. The other end of the day matters just as much. A sloppy opening — alarm not verified, safe not counted, cameras not checked…

Partial-payment theft led the spike. What LP teams should carry into the holiday season. Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, and offenders noticed. According to new data from retail intelligence firm SAI, reported by The Grocer on November 3, 2026, shoplifting offences soared 163% on Halloween compared with the year before. Theft peaked between…

Concealment happens behind a closed curtain — so your controls have to work before the door closes. Ask any experienced loss prevention agent where concealment happens most often in an apparel store, and the answer rarely changes: the fitting room. It is one of the few places in a store where a customer is legitimately…

A cross-county theft ring only became a prosecutable case when retailers and police shared the pattern — here’s how to build one. Today, Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson announced that Byron Carner, 35, of South Euclid, was sentenced to nine years in prison for stealing more than $104,000 in merchandise — mostly tools — from…

Most overnight losses don’t start at midnight — they start at closing, when the safe count is rushed, the back-door check is skipped, and the alarm is assumed, not verified. Ask any investigator where an overnight loss usually begins and the answer is rarely a sophisticated break-in. It is a door left unsecured, a safe…

A fictitious pickup in Torrance cost a warehouse half a million dollars in product — and the whole shipment was recovered. The lesson is at the dock door, not in the recovery. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department detectives announced on October 27, 2026, that they had recovered approximately $500,000 in SIG Sauer firearm parts and…

A missing master key can cost more than a shoplifting ring. Tighten who holds keys, how they’re tracked, and what happens when someone leaves. Ask a loss prevention manager where their shrink comes from and you’ll hear about shoplifting, organized retail crime, and return fraud. Ask where their keys are, and you’ll often get a…

IHL Group and Sensormatic’s 2026 total retail loss study finds 75% of loss dollars come from somewhere other than external theft. Here’s where to look. If your loss prevention program is built almost entirely around stopping shoplifters at the door, a major new study says you’re guarding a quarter of the problem. IHL Group and…