Retail Theft Ring Loot Discovered

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Alpha8472
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Retail Theft Ring Loot Discovered

Post by Alpha8472 »

A huge amount of stolen merchandise from a suspected retail theft ring has been located in Pittsburg in Contra Costa County, California. A suspect was arrested. The stolen merchandise was linked to many thefts throughout California. The stash was valued at over $700,000

The stores include CVS, Target, RiteAid, Safeway, Sunglass Hut, Macy’s, Lululemon, and Total Wine and More, according to the California Highway Patrol. The suspect has already been released from jail.

This was just one suspect. There are many others where he came from. Contra Costa County is the heart of a massive retail theft ring using using various methods such as arson as a weapon. Information is limited as the investigation is still ongoing.

May 1, two suspects from a retail theft ring pleaded guilty in Contra Costa County to over $1 million dollars in stolen goods from September 2020 and February 2021 at multiple JCPenney and Sams’ Club stores in seven counties, including in Contra Costa, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Placer, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Santa Clarita and Tulare counties. They received 16 months in prison. Two others were charged with organized retail theft.

Perhaps Sam's Club is hesitant to expand due to all of the retail theft it has faced in the past couple of years.
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Re: Retail Theft Ring Loot Discovered

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: May 14th, 2022, 10:05 pm A huge amount of stolen merchandise from a suspected retail theft ring has been located in Pittsburg in Contra Costa County, California. A suspect was arrested. The stolen merchandise was linked to many thefts throughout California. The stash was valued at over $700,000

The stores include CVS, Target, RiteAid, Safeway, Sunglass Hut, Macy’s, Lululemon, and Total Wine and More, according to the California Highway Patrol. The suspect has already been released from jail.

This was just one suspect. There are many others where he came from. Contra Costa County is the heart of a massive retail theft ring using using various methods such as arson as a weapon. Information is limited as the investigation is still ongoing.

May 1, two suspects from a retail theft ring pleaded guilty in Contra Costa County to over $1 million dollars in stolen goods from September 2020 and February 2021 at multiple JCPenney and Sams’ Club stores in seven counties, including in Contra Costa, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Placer, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Santa Clarita and Tulare counties. They received 16 months in prison. Two others were charged with organized retail theft.

Perhaps Sam's Club is hesitant to expand due to all of the retail theft it has faced in the past couple of years.
I don't understand why Sam's Club is having theft issues with the receipt check program at the exit. Unless these folks are running out the entrance or something (wouldn't be real easy to do that at the Reno Sam's).
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Re: Retail Theft Ring Loot Discovered

Post by Alpha8472 »

These were mostly burglaries after the stores closed.
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Re: Retail Theft Ring Loot Discovered

Post by mbz321 »

storewanderer wrote: May 14th, 2022, 10:58 pm
I don't understand why Sam's Club is having theft issues with the receipt check program at the exit. Unless these folks are running out the entrance or something (wouldn't be real easy to do that at the Reno Sam's).

Hell, they could be running out the exit too. Thieves know it is unlikely employees will chase them down, and unless an actual trained LP or police officer happens to be standing nearby, the chances of getting caught are slim.

This past week, someone bolted out the front door of the Costco I work at with a bunch of high value electronics items, expensive speakers I believe (ended up dropping some stuff in the parking lot, but still got away with a couple grand worth of product), and apparently it has been happening at other nearby stores as well (apparently they just strolled on in with a few other unrelated people, so so much for the whole checking membership cards thing at the door). Unfortunately with rising inflation and other societal pressures, this kind of thing is likely going to get more common. Hopefully stores will get smart and actually boost their security measures before it is too late.
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Re: Retail Theft Ring Loot Discovered

Post by ClownLoach »

mbz321 wrote: May 15th, 2022, 8:59 pm
storewanderer wrote: May 14th, 2022, 10:58 pm
I don't understand why Sam's Club is having theft issues with the receipt check program at the exit. Unless these folks are running out the entrance or something (wouldn't be real easy to do that at the Reno Sam's).

Hell, they could be running out the exit too. Thieves know it is unlikely employees will chase them down, and unless an actual trained LP or police officer happens to be standing nearby, the chances of getting caught are slim.

This past week, someone bolted out the front door of the Costco I work at with a bunch of high value electronics items, expensive speakers I believe (ended up dropping some stuff in the parking lot, but still got away with a couple grand worth of product), and apparently it has been happening at other nearby stores as well (apparently they just strolled on in with a few other unrelated people, so so much for the whole checking membership cards thing at the door). Unfortunately with rising inflation and other societal pressures, this kind of thing is likely going to get more common. Hopefully stores will get smart and actually boost their security measures before it is too late.
Many, many years ago - I'm talking about when RF guns were still two pound bricks - Costco was doing a test in Garden Grove, CA where they did scan every membership card of incoming customers while looking at the picture on the card to make sure they matched. I have no idea what the purpose was other than they had two associates at the door with scanners and they did stop customers who were just flashing the card and asked for them to take the card out of their wallet for scanning. It seemed to go for a few months before they stopped. In theory they could implement the kind of entry gates an office building has and require a scan at the door then have a person look for a face vs photo match. Then they would at least know who is stealing from them. Right now it could be anyone because they don't look at the photo on the card at entry. This could certainly discourage some folks.
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Re: Retail Theft Ring Loot Discovered

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: May 15th, 2022, 9:54 pm
Many, many years ago - I'm talking about when RF guns were still two pound bricks - Costco was doing a test in Garden Grove, CA where they did scan every membership card of incoming customers while looking at the picture on the card to make sure they matched. I have no idea what the purpose was other than they had two associates at the door with scanners and they did stop customers who were just flashing the card and asked for them to take the card out of their wallet for scanning. It seemed to go for a few months before they stopped. In theory they could implement the kind of entry gates an office building has and require a scan at the door then have a person look for a face vs photo match. Then they would at least know who is stealing from them. Right now it could be anyone because they don't look at the photo on the card at entry. This could certainly discourage some folks.
Beyond tracking who comes into the store, scanning the membership card at entry could provide some very valuable customer insight with regards to conversion, how long the customer spends in the store, etc.

With the increased use of things like self checkout and Scan and Go I could see it making a lot of sense to verify the membership card at the entrance so that part is done and settled before anyone walks in. But I think it would not go over well and customers would become upset. It also may put folks in a bad mood if they have to line up to wait for a card scan just to enter the store. Many Costco Stores have nice large awnings over the entryway sometimes heated, so folks would be able to wait under good shelter. Better to hassle folks with a long checkout line after they've filled their card and a long exit receipt check line after they've already paid for their goods, I guess.
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Re: Retail Theft Ring Loot Discovered

Post by mbz321 »

ClownLoach wrote: May 15th, 2022, 9:54 pm
Many, many years ago - I'm talking about when RF guns were still two pound bricks - Costco was doing a test in Garden Grove, CA where they did scan every membership card of incoming customers while looking at the picture on the card to make sure they matched. I have no idea what the purpose was other than they had two associates at the door with scanners and they did stop customers who were just flashing the card and asked for them to take the card out of their wallet for scanning. It seemed to go for a few months before they stopped. In theory they could implement the kind of entry gates an office building has and require a scan at the door then have a person look for a face vs photo match. Then they would at least know who is stealing from them. Right now it could be anyone because they don't look at the photo on the card at entry. This could certainly discourage some folks.
That definitely sounds like a good idea, but you would be surprised how many membership cards I see daily that have no picture on them. Technically, we can ask them for ID at checkout, but it is rarely done unless their purchase seems suspicious. I always half-joke that we should switch to retina or fingerprint scans :P. (Especially now with self-checkout where there is zero enforcement of 'card sharing'.).

storewanderer wrote: May 15th, 2022, 10:57 pm
With the increased use of things like self checkout and Scan and Go I could see it making a lot of sense to verify the membership card at the entrance so that part is done and settled before anyone walks in. But I think it would not go over well and customers would become upset. It also may put folks in a bad mood if they have to line up to wait for a card scan just to enter the store.
Oh for sure.....there are some that b*tch and moan now that they have to even flash their card to get in.
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Re: Retail Theft Ring Loot Discovered

Post by Romr123 »

Infeasible to have a mandatory card check in areas where pharmacy/optical/hearing/liquor must serve all comers.
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Re: Retail Theft Ring Loot Discovered

Post by BillyGr »

Romr123 wrote: May 16th, 2022, 7:06 am Infeasible to have a mandatory card check in areas where pharmacy/optical/hearing/liquor must serve all comers.
Not really - just put those departments in the front and prohibit people from going beyond them (for instance, our stores here (or at least BJ's) has liquor separate (which is likely due to liquor laws), but they could do the same for those others if they wanted to.

On the other hand, why does it matter if they check cards at all? After all, if someone doesn't have one, they aren't going to get through the checkout anyway (or will have to pay for a membership or the extra fee for a non-member that some offer), so why not let them in and if they find stuff they want, they'll wind up signing up - if not, they leave and no issue.
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Re: Retail Theft Ring Loot Discovered

Post by Alpha8472 »

Sam's Club lets non-members shop but with an added fee on items. The Sam's Club near me in the San Francisco Bay Area does not even check for cards at the door. The front door is wide open and not staffed. They only staff the separate exit door. Shoplifters can just run out the front door.
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