Get Caught on Monday. Shoplift Again on Thursday.

Where is the Justice????

To many a small business entrepreneur working on very limited budget and ever slimmer margins, Shoplifting and Passers of Counterfeit money bills are a daily threat. Read the following notes and IF YOU SEE ANYTHING FAMILIAR, YOU ARE ALREADY LOSING YOUR SHIRT, to wit:

1. One Small business owner of a Grocery told me his Security personnel would catch a shoplifter red-handed bringing out the goods and rather than be repentant, would even challenge Security to bring him to the police station as he will be out on bail immediately. Sure enough, HE WAS CAUGHT AGAIN IN THE SAME STORE AFTER 3 DAYS!!!!

2. Habitual shoplifters do not shoplift at random (i.e. go for the high-value goods). Items that they steal are items that already have been ordered by buyers of stolen goods. IN A SENSE, THESE SHOPLIFTERS ARE SHOPPING!!!!!!

3. Shoplifters "go to a school of SHOPLIFTNG". There, they practice how to carry 2 2kg of Nestle Powdered Milk in between their legs (under their skirt) and still walk normally.

4. Shoplifters would come in wearing a pair of denims but leave the store in a skirt.

5. Shoplifters are very much aware of the Law (without being lawyers) i.e. if no charges are filed by the small business owner, the police has to let them go in a few hours (otherwise, Illegal detention charges can be filed against the police).

6. In the event charges are filed, their handler would immediately post the bail, according to exasperated small business owners. (They know this for a fact as borne by the title of this post -- see above title)

7. Whenever a new grocery opens, all shoplifters would swarm into the store to
a. Test the Security Defenses
b. Being store opening day, Store and Security Personnel will be
overwhelmed by the number of customers and kibitzers.
c. Priority is "Pleasing the Customer". The small business owner
does not want a SCENE AS WHEN 5 BURLY GUARDS ARE
TRYING TO MANHANDLE A KICKING AND SCREAMING FEMALE
SHOPLIFTER, isn't it?
d. A new store will use new, young and probably inexperienced
guards. (Cheap Labor)

8. Most often, shoplifters would enter in a Gang moving in different directions to throw-off uniformed and plainclothes Security. LOOK AT IT AS A NUMBERS GAME.......The poor small business owner can only hire a few guards (3 or 4) watching 3 entrances and only 1 or 2 guard on roving duty versus 6 suspected shoplifters amongst hundreds of in and out legitimate shoppers. Its a NUMBERS GAME AS WELL AS A SHELL GAME. Pretty smart huh?

9. CCTV cameras are of the cheap kind (i.e. lacks high-tech Face Recognition Programming, low-resolution, no adjustment for changing light conditions and images/footages are not interfaced with software that will sound the appropriate alarms/SMS messaging). And to top it all, monitoring of the many CCTV units are left with a poor, lowly and very much bored clerk or staffer. Modern CCTV monitoring is computerized to recognize repeat shoplifters i.e. image of every caught shoplifter is stored in a database and the instant a shoplifter enters the CCTV scan range, the computer searches the database and any match will sound the alarm (without any human intervention 24/7). Price? P3,000 for cheap camera and upwards of P300,000/unit for the face recognition etc version. AND OUR FRIENDLY SHOPLIFTER KNOWS WHICH MODEL THE POOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNER WILL BUY.

IN THE END, THE SMALL BUSINESS OWNER WEIGHS HOW MUCH VALUE IS SECURITY TO HIS BUSINESS. A typical small business grocer is working on a 3 - 5% margin. A lost of a can of expensive milk can only be recovered after maybe selling 100s of the same product.

Warning against Counterfeit Money

Today I was advised by Mall Security to warn my Crew not to entertain persons who present P1000/P500 peso bills to be exchanged for smaller bills. A Fried Chicken Restaurant was just victimized.

Things to remember about Counterfeit Money:

1. Having a Money Detector (UV Light) used to illuminate the Marks on the peso bills IS NO GUARANTEE YOU WILL NOT BE A VICTIM as the counterfeit peso bills are so good that they also have the feature showing the Illuminated Marks!!

2. That same teller also told my crew and myself she no longer uses (Relies) on the Money Detector anymore (Her money detector is kept under her counter) and instead, RELIES ON THE FEEL OF THE BILLS to tell if the security paper used is genuine. (This skill can only be learned after handling thousands of bills day-in/day-out)

3. The genuine peso bill has a ribbon on the right side that changes in color when shifted under the light whereas the Fake money only has one color.

4. The pictures of the public figures on the face of the fake money bill appear cartoonish and rough as compared to the genuine peso bill especially when held under a bright light.

5. The feel of the paper of the Fake Money does feel right (some say it feels thinner, others say it feels like ordinary bond paper).

6. The green color on the P200 peso bill appears too bright or maybe a different shade of green from the genuine P200 peso bill.

7. Even Philippine Coins are being counterfeited and that is why some stores have resorted to having Magnets on hand. (Fake coins will be attracted to the magnet)

8. The opinion of our bank teller friend is that the counterfeiter are getting better and better and the above defects will in time disappear as the counterfeiter improve their skills.

The bank where we do business with said that on average, they encounter fake money 2 or 3 times a week!!

It's so hard to make a sale only to find out you just got robbed.

Alledged Budol-Budol Perpetrators on the Prowl

SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS BEWARE !!!!!

Just learned this afternoon from my Crew that Mall Security has put under surveillance for the past 4 days a heavily-built man and a woman who have been observed hanging around my store and asking inane (senseless) questions from my operator.

Mall guards suspect that the couple is part of a Budol-Budol Team out to swindle money from salespersons through the use of hypnotism and/or as a swindle team wherein one poses as an demanding customer while the other attempts to distract the operator's attention by causing a raucus. Here is how it is done:

1. Under the Budol-budol scheme, salespersons (under a hypnotic spell without their realizing it) have been known to fork-over the cash sales to the thief without even knowing why.

2. In the case of the 2-man swindle team. the man posing as a customer will pay using a big bill (P1,000) to pay for a P10 Lotto bet while at the same time asking the Lotto operator to break his other bills into smaller denominations. At that point, the other man/woman cause a raucus that distracts the operator to the point that she gives change money without actually receiving any payment yet.

Best is not to look straight in the eyes of any customer and not to answer questions when they notice they are of an inane or senseless nature. Report immediately to Mall Security such persons.