1. Frauds in retail practices

2. Introduction What is fraud ? Retail theft 1. return fraud
2. slip and fall 
  sweet heartening
Prevention of frauds

3. Introduction
Among as many as 30 emerging markets, Indian retail sector has been termed as the most lucrative one for investment in  A T Kearney’s Eighth Annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) The domestic retail sector contributes significantly to India’s GDP, with organised retailing accounting for 5% of the entire retail market.    
However, while on one hand India’s retail sector is booming, on the other, increasing number of retail frauds has become a matter of concern for retailers who are incurring huge losses.

4. What is retail fraud?
Retail fraud or shrinkage refers to loss of stock or products due to administrative slip-ups, theft on part of employees , vendor deceit and shoplifting. According to data released by the Global Retail Theft Barometer (GRTB) 2009, Indian retail shrinkage has been the highest as compared to that of the US, UK  and China.
“Retail fraud is a growing trend and every retailer needs to undertake adequate measures to address the problem. In fact, I think retailers should have a proper in-house retail fraud management system in place where dedicated team of experts will run checks on a regular basis.

5. Popular retail theft 1) Return fraud 2) slip and fall
3) sweet heartening
Return fraud, slip and fall and sweet heartening are some of the popular retail fraud practices. While return fraud and sweet heartening already exist in the country, slip and fall is a trend followed mainly in the US, which is picking up slowly in India.
Return fraud refers to a situation where the customer cheats the retailer through exchange of products.

6. . Under this practice, the customer exchanges a particular product in a shop from where it was not purchased, thereby fooling the retailer. The trick of return fraud is practiced mainly in case of expensive merchandise.
Slip and fall is a situation where a customer claims that some valuables have gone missing from the bag that he/she kept with the security personnel and sues the retailer seeking compensation for the loss. This trend is not so popular in India, however, it is picking up.

7. Sweet heartening is a practice where an employee ties up with a friend who visits the shop as a customer. The friend then buys high- value products from the shop and is billed at a much cheaper rate by the employee friend. 
These apart , shoplifting , vendor frauds , administrative errors such as not maintaining proper records of the inventory are some of the other common causes of shrinkages in most retail stores.

8. prevention 1)You can help to prevent fraud at your premises
This is one of a series of booklets providing information about crimes committed against retailers. It offers practical advice about what you can do as a retailer to help prevent external fraud in your shop. The booklet offers ideas and options which can of course be discussed in more detail with your local crime prevention officer.
2)Payment card and cheque fraud
Stolen cheque books, cheque guarantee cards, credit cards and debit cards are often used to defraud retailers. The fraudster may even have other stolen documents, belonging to the genuine cardholders, to support the use of the stolen card.

9. 3)Credit fraud 4)Refund fraud
Fraudsters target retailers who offer credit facilities. They obtain credit by providing a genuine address and other details, but move on before making any payments.
4)Refund fraud
Fraudsters, having stolen goods, will then return them for a refund, sometimes without even removing the goods from the shop. They can get more from a cash refund than from selling the goods themselves.

10. 5)Counterfeit currency and gift vouchers
Retailers should be alert to the use of counterfeit currency by fraudsters. While this area of fraud is still relatively small, the cost of individual incidents can be high, as forgers tend to produce large denomination bank notes – £20 and £50, rather than £5 or £10. The forging of gift vouchers is easier for fraudsters, as their designs are often less intricate and easier to copy than banknotes.