New study says global payment card fraud to top $24.26 billion
SmartMetric, the developer and manufacturer of advanced biometric credit/debit and security cards, reports that based on research published this month by the Nilson Report, a staggering $24.26 Billion was lost in the past 12 months due to payment card fraud worldwide. The United States still leads the world as the most credit card fraud prone country with 38.6% reported card fraud losses last year. It is projected that payment card fraud losses are not going away. According to reported research, the global card fraud losses will grow by almost $10 Billion over the next 3 years.
“The loss to card fraud is not going away and presents an ever-growing challenge to card-issuing banks worldwide. This is why we are receiving so much interest from banks from around the world in our biometric secured credit/debit card,” said today SmartMetric’s President and CEO, Chaya Hendrick. SmartMetric makes a fingerprint activated credit/debit card that uses the cardholders pre-stored fingerprint to unlock and activate the card prior to the card’s use in a retail card reader or ATM. Embedded inside the card is a super miniature fingerprint scanner that reads and matches the person’s fingerprint in less than 1 second when they touch a miniature sensor on the card’s surface. [Source: BusinessWire]
Employee charged in ‘under-ringing’ scheme
A Connecticut man faces charges after police said he stole and fraudulently marked down items while working at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Jonathan Cahill, 22, of Southington was charged Tuesday with third-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit third-degree larceny. Officers met with the store loss prevention manager, who told police he saw Cahill on surveillance video incorrectly cashing out customers in multiple instances.
Cahill reportedly charged a customer $17.38 for a purchase of three packages of fishing line and a pair of shorts that should have totaled $130, according to his arrest warrant. Cahill was also seen that day on surveillance taking six pairs of Oakley sunglasses valued at $140 each, putting them in a bag, and leaving at the end of his shift without paying. The manager also reported that another ne transaction should have totaled about $1,045, but Cahill charged the customer $26.82, the warrant said. Police determined Cahill’s actions cost the company $2,768. [Source: MyRecordJournal]
New Organized Retail Crime Task force
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) is launching a new task force to help reduce the number of organized retail crimes (ORC). The department announced Wednesday that members of the task force will work to identify and arrest offenders through identifying trends and collaborating with business owners. Lieutenant Rob Sprague, who leads the new retail crime task force, says these incidents affect everyone in the community and hopes to reduce the number of groups committing theft.
“We aren’t talking about kids stealing candy bars,” said Sprague. “The people involved in organized retail crime are walking out of stores with garbage bags full of undergarments or shopping carts full of expensive tools.” In 2018, CMPD says they investigated almost 6,000 shoplifting cases which are up 13 percent to the date. Some businesses have also reported nearly 200 incidents of shoplifting over a three year time-span. Anyone who witnesses a crime is asked to call 911 or Crime Stoppers at 704.334.1600 and safely gather information that could be helpful identifying the suspect(s). [Source: WBTV3 News]
Shoplift suspect arrested after setting store ablaze
A North Carolina shoplifting suspect was arrested after he started a fire in a High Point Walmart store, reports said. Daniel Kai Dailey, 26, was charged with arson and larceny after a foot chase with officers, according to a High Point Police Department press release. Police said Dailey “intentionally” started the fire in the South Main Street store, WXII reported.
The High Point Fire Department responded Monday afternoon to a fire in the store’s men’s department, police said. Around the same time, officers were dispatched to a shoplifting in progress, according to the press release. High Point police said “shoplifting suspects” fled from the store. The department didn’t immediately return The News & Observer’s request to comment on whether others were allegedly involved in the incident. Dailey was also charged with resist, delay and obstruct, according to police. He is being held in the Guilford County Jail on a $25,000 bond. [Source: The News & Observer]
Another LP pepper-spraying
An Indiana woman has been charged with theft and battery following an incident at a Macy’s Department Store. Shamika Denise Mitchell is charged with one count of theft and one count of battery, both Class A Misdemeanors. Officers with the Mishawaka Police Department were dispatched to Macy’s Department Store for reports of a shoplifter who had deployed her pepper spray canister on loss prevention associates at the store. Upon arrival, officers learned that store employees had observed a person by the name of Shamika Denise Mitchell taking various items from the store without paying for them and putting them into her purse, according to the probable cause affidavit.
LP associates then detained Mitchell, who pulled out a can of pepper spray and sprayed one of the associates. In their report, police noted that the associate’s face, eyes, and neck were red and agitated. Officers then found $160 worth of Macy’s merchandise in Mitchell’s purse. According to court documents, Mitchell has previous convictions, including theft. Mitchell was arrested and taken to St. Joseph County Jail, where she is being held on a $400 bond. She is scheduled to be in court on February 4. [Source: ABC57 News]
Report says $4B needed for supply chain security
The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) has identified nearly $4 billion in “crucial” port and supply chain security needs over the next decade, according to a new report. In the fourth edition of its “The State of Freight” report, the AAPA recommends refocusing the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Port Security Grant Program to “better meet the security infrastructure needs of publicly owned commercial seaports and related maritime operations,” AAPA officials said in a press release.
The AAPA’s recommendations include funding $2.6 billion in maintenance and upgrades to port security equipment and systems, and another $1.3 billion for investments to address cybersecurity, active shooter, drone mitigation, resiliency and other evolving security threats. As a result of current security challenges, port security grant appropriations need to be increased to $400 million annually and the ratio of grant funds going to ports needs to at least double to 50 percent, they added.
Protecting the nation’s seaports against terrorism and other security threats helps ensure safe and reliable goods movement, which is critical to the nation’s economy, said AAPA President and Chief Executive Officer Kurt Nagle. “However, in recent years, nearly two-thirds of Port Security Grant Program funding has been spent on training and equipping first responders, and on improving response capabilities. What’s needed now is a shift to more investments in maritime domain awareness, including prevention and protection measures,” Nagle said. [Source: Progressive Railroader]