A New Line Of Defense Against ORC

May 2012 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

By Matt Pillar, Editor In Chief

Anti-ORC (organized retail crime) initiatives achieve new levels of sophistication when technology is leveraged to connect the dots.

In an effort to curb ORC losses and literally make the world safer, retailers are using business intelligence drawn from store systems/devices to build cases, recoup losses, and enable the prosecution of offenders. Here, Tim Lindblom, EVP at Gulfcoast Software Solutions, explains.

What are the greatest threats that ORC rings pose to U.S. retailers, and how does the threat differ from typical shoplifters and internal theft/fraud?

Lindblom: Credit card fraud and “inside jobs” are huge in ORC, both of which require a dramatic increase in retailers’ vigilance. In the C-store/petroleum segment, for instance, the large-scale theft of fuel using stolen or fraudulent credit cards is occurring rampantly, and without the proper systems, merchants have little in the way of recourse when those fraudulent purchases are charged back by the credit card companies.