One study that was conducted reported that 17 retail companies had a combined annual loss of $472 million from refund fraud. There are a few different ways to get money from refunds. One way is stealing the item and then returning it or staff members keep the receipts from previous sales and use them to process refunds later on. Steps have been taken to reduce this kind of stealing. One step to deterring this is letting the customers know that proof of purchase is required if they want to return the item for a refund at any point. Another way to curb this problem is that cash refunds should only be made if the customer can prove that the item was originally paid for in cash. In addition if the original purchase was made with a check, do not process any refunds until the original check has cleared. .
The place where most employee theft occurs is on the sale floor. Here they are able to walk through the merchandise potentially taking whatever they want. Some behaviors to look for are staff members who wander around the store, apparently aimlessly. Employees that go into the staff lounge area when it isn't their assigned break time, employees who socialize with other employees in different areas when they are supposed to be working. And finally, employees that bring their bags or purses into the sales area. Each of these four behaviors has a name associated with them. The first one is referred to as The Wanderer. The second is the Early Luncher. The third is the Socializer and the forth is the Purse-Carrier.
The Wanderer is an employee that is supposed to be working in Department A but tends to spend a lot of time in Department B. They may be taking advantage of this wandering time to stash stolen merchandise to pick up later. Also while their department is unstaffed, customers will find it easier to shoplift, and other employees will be able to do the same. To deal with this problem, managers should know when and where employees are supposed to be working, and confront those who are outside of their assigned areas.
