Epos-Scan is the ultimate staff and customer fraud deterrent, according to the manufacturer
Epos-Scan is the ultimate staff and customer fraud deterrent, according to the manufacturer
Britain still has the biggest retail shrinkage problem in Europe. The 2007 Global Retail Theft Barometer recently found UK retailers lost £3.8 billion to theft by customers, employees and suppliers and internal reporting errors in the 12 months to 30 June 2007.
The same report, compiled by the Centre for Retail Research for Checkpoint Systems, found shrinkage amounts to 1.3% of retailers’ turnover. Its survey found 43% of losses were from customers, with theft by employees accounting for 35%.
In response, Siemens said it has developed a new solution called Epos-scan that addresses the difficult issue of retail staff and customer fraud. It is designed to identify theft as it happens, marrying together electronic point-of-sale (EPoS) transaction data and images from CCTV cameras to provide key video evidence instantly. Epos-Scan impacts dramatically on shrinkage as many stores can be managed remotely from head office, according to its maker.
Developing tech to meet the challenge
Since the late 1960s CCTV installations in retail outlets have made a significant contribution to controlling customer theft, but Siemens observed that they are much less effective against staff crime at the point of sale.
The reason is not hard to understand – CCTV images of staff carrying out transactions at PoS terminals look identical, whether they are honest or fraudulent. There are a number of crimes that are difficult to detect. These include the misuse of refunds by staff and customers; collusion between staff and customers; misuse of staff discounts; stolen credit/debit cards; and delivery bay theft.
With Epos-Scan, overhead CCTV cameras targeted on tills are linked directly to EPoS terminals across single or many stores. At the head office control station, the loss prevention manager can automatically view images of transactions, together with audit roll data from every transaction superimposed on the screen.
The retailer agrees a list of potential opportunities for fraud at PoS that are classed as ‘critical transactions’. Examples include: low value item sales, staff discounts, credit and debit cards, no sales and refunds.
All targeted ‘critical transactions’ are then automatically captured on video and recorded, together with the relevant EPoS data, in addition these events are stored in report form.
These reports enable the retailer to build up a picture of potential fraudulent activity and to interrogate the video to decide if theft or collusion actually took place, according to Siemens.
Providing greater fraud visibility
It said bespoke software that resides inside the till transmits data in real time over the network, this enabling immediate action to be taken if required, while also providing monitoring of till status.
Remote interrogation by head office can also provides an estate-wide view that enables activity across multiple stores to be analysed. Repeated fraud at several sites can be linked, and verified by video.
All recordings are at full frame rate, giving a 'complete' picture of critical transactions, added the manufacturer. In addition, a ‘snapshot generator’ can provide snapshots of transaction video before downloading, which is designed to conserve bandwidth and speed up the process of evaluating data for an investigation.
Epos-Scan automatically identifies suspect events without the need to trawl hours of video footage and provides irrefutable proof of fraud, Siemens added.
It acts as an extremely potent deterrent for dishonest staff, which can dramatically cut incidence of fraud and lead to an improvement in staff morale when fraudulent behaviour is reduced, creating greater job satisfaction and improvements in staff retention.
Other direct benefits beyond the till include monitoring of the loading bay, integration with Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) alarms, activity in the stock room, opening of the safe door and supervision of the cash office.
Siemens added that the systems have already been installed by a leading High Street retailer across 11 flagship stores throughout the UK since 2009.
Proved on the UK High Street
Siemens Building Technologies Security Solutions managing director, Dave Pickles, explained: "A typical example might be Epos-Scan flagging up a low-value transaction in a department that sells designer label clothes. If we look at the CCTV images and see the customer walking away with an expensive garment, yet the audit-roll data shows a transaction of just a few pounds, we know we have a problem. With a conventional CCTV system that doesn't supply the EPoS data, however, the transaction would look perfectly normal."
"One of the key benefits of the systems is that they can help identify problems as they occur. Epos-Scan instantly brings target events to the notice of security staff who can then, if they decide to do so, watch the whole transaction as it is happening. If they spot something untoward, they can respond immediately. This has proved very to be a very effective tool in reducing shrinkage."
Pickles continued: "Effective as it is in catching criminals, that's not the retailer’s real reason for using Epos-Scan. They prefer to see it as a tool for discouraging crime. The retailer explains the system and how it works to all staff during their induction. It deters the very few staff who might have been tempted to 'take a chance,’ they quickly realise that the likelihood of being caught is very high and they are, therefore, much less likely to give in to that temptation."
"The hard-pressed police forces throughout the country find the evidence provided by Epos-Scan to be very satisfactory, as it is entirely unambiguous, and it means that little time has to be spent on assembling, collating and checking other forms of evidence. It also greatly reduces the number of prosecutions which fail when brought to court," he concluded.
