The restaurant manager’s home phone rang. She recognized the cell phone number of her shift manager on the display. Before she could say “Hello” she heard a loud, frantic voice declaring, “I was robbed!” The shift manager then described the frightful event of being robbed at gunpoint while on way to the bank with the deposit. On a fairly desolate street the shift manager described stopping behind a stalled vehicle. Suddenly her driver’s side door was yanked open, and a gun was pointed at her face. The gunman then demanded the deposit that was lying on the passenger seat. When she picked up the deposit, the gunman grabbed and jumped into the front passenger seat of the vehicle in front of her. The car then sped off.

The holiday season has arrived which means restaurants and stores are busy with hungry shoppers. Gift cards are a popular choice and the majority is purchased during the season. Fortunately, the season brings increases in sales and more people are paying with cash. Unfortunately, cash is a target for dishonesty from both internal and external sources. Robbers target restaurants and stores with lax security and untrained employees. Restaurants and stores may also fall victim to their own employees. Managers frantically trying to keep up with the frenetic pace of the holiday season may take shortcuts in an otherwise strong security and loss prevention program.

Armed robbery.  The very combination of those two words makes one shudder. Within the Justice system, the act of armed robbery is a felony and a conviction carries serious consequences.  Yet many, fueled by drugs, alcohol, or desperation, plus their perception of an “easy mark”, are willing to take the risk.

“Hey man; how do like your job at that fast food place?”  “It’s alright.  It gives me a bit of cash for some bills, and I get to eat for half price.”  “So, do you work much in the drive-thru?”  “Yeah, I work the drive-thru cash quite a bit. Why do you ask?”  “Well, how would you like to make a LOT of easy money while you’re working the drive-thru?”  “Keep talking; I’m listening.”  “OK, here’s the deal.  I know these guys that will give you a credit card skimmer that fits in your pocket.  All you have to do is run a credit card through it at the same time you swipe a customer’s card as you ring up a sale.  You get to decide when you think it’s safe and won’t get caught.  You get paid $25 for every card you swipe in the skimmer.  What’s beautiful is that it doesn’t matter what kind of credit card it is.  You get paid for all of them.  You meet with me after your shift, give me the skimmer and I pay you for all the information you’ve swiped.  I’ll give you another empty skimmer and we do it all over again.  It’s that simple.  Are you in?”  “Oh yeah, I’m all in. Sounds great; let’s go!”

This conversation could possibly be taking place with your employees.  Credit card “skimming” fraud is epidemic in the QSR and Quick Casual restaurants as employees such as the one above are recruited or planted by organized crime rings.  The primary targets for the collusion are low wage employees that handle customer credit card transactions.  In this case, the fast food, drive thru cashier.  They handle a lot of credit card transactions in relative isolation.  The customer information captured on the portable skimming device is used to make fraudulent credit cards.  Customer identities are stolen to produce other fraudulent documents such as driver’s licenses and credit applications.  The result is often a trail of unhappy customers with credit messes to clean up, large amounts of stolen merchandise, and a public relations nightmare for the company.

When walking into a major theme park you naturally bear to the right.  You don’t veer from the main pathways.  Prohibited areas may not be marked but you instinctively know that you can’t go there.  So, why is that?  The principle is “Crime Prevention through Environmental Design”, commonly known as CPTED.  The theme park environment has been cleverly designed with gentle slopes to direct walking traffic.  Landscaping has been designed with symbolic demarcation and subtle barriers that mark transitions between zones such as different colored or textured pathways, flower beds, ground cover, and decorative fencing.  When more substantial barriers are needed, shrubbery and thorny bushes are effective in creating a more formidable obstacle.  The uniqueness and success of CPTED comes from the integration of crime prevention principles and techniques into the architectural design process.  Quick Serve (QSR) and Fast Casual restaurants are vulnerable to robbery because of cash transactions with the public, late at night.  Four overlapping CPTED principles are particularly effective in comprehensive crime prevention programs to help people feel safer and deter crime.  The overall function is to affect behavior and create the impression that activity is monitored and misbehavior will be addressed.

1.  Natural Surveillance – Places physical features in ways to maximize the ability to see what’s going on.  One of the biggest obstacles of natural surveillance in QSR and Fast Casual restaurants is advertizing plastered over the windows.  It prevents police patrols and others from observing activity inside the restaurant, particularly after the sun goes down.  The same is true for overgrown plants and bushes that cover the windows.  Inside, convex mirrors improve the view of blind spots.  A camera system with a monitor in the office provides a view and records activity inside and outside.  An enunciator or strobe light that goes off when the back door is opened presents additional awareness.  A manager wearing a drive-thru headset during evening and late night hours not only provides awareness of drive-thru activity, but additional security and communications when needed.  A window overlooking the kitchen assists in monitoring activity.

2.  Physical Security – Properly located entrances, locks, fencing, landscaping and lighting deter crime.

Jeremy has been working in the restaurant for a few months, usually after school and weekends.  He’s learned every station in the kitchen and even works as a cashier whenever needed.  Several of his fellow employees are stealing both cash and product from the company on a regular basis.  They cover the shortages by manipulating sales so that the register is never short.  They borrow manager’s keys to the back door and place cases of product by the dumpster where their friends pick it up.  Jeremy pretends that he doesn’t notice and does not associate much with the other employees.  Jeremy is uncomfortable about it and is now looking for another job.  He’s very apprehensive about telling one of the managers because he’s not confident they will handle it well and may identify him as the one who told on them.

The training of our employees in detecting counterfeit currency, or the device we use to authenticate currency, just paid off.  A counterfeit bill is detected!  So, what do we do now?  Do we confront the passer?  Refuse to accept it?  Call the police?  What’s the next step?

According to the Public Affairs Office of the Secret Service, $78.7 million in counterfeit currency was passed in the U.S. last year.  The threat to your business coming in contact with a counterfeit bill is high.  Using bill authenticators may be in your loss prevention strategy.   Training your employees on how to detect counterfeit, and what to do when it occurs is an essential element of loss prevention and cash management plans.  Good training will avoid losses and protect your employees, the business, and the Brand.

Part 1 of “Is it real or counterfeit?” gave practical tips in teaching cashiers how to detect counterfeit currency.  Anti-counterfeit technology has been embedded in US currency.  Tips on detecting counterfeit refer to a few of these features.  The “feel” and “look” of the bill is a great start.  The printing on genuine bills will feel slightly raised and will appear clear and crisp.  The numerals in the bottom right corner will shift colors from black to green or copper to green when tilted back and forth.  Watermarks of the portrait images can be seen from both side of the bill. 

“Good morning!  Thanks for calling XYZ Company; how may I help you?” 

The young manager knelt in front of the safe, a thousand thoughts cluttering his head. His fingers were nearly frozen with fear as he fumbled with the combination. His heartbeat was pounding in his ears. A few thoughts came into focus; “please just get through this”, as the cold steel of the handgun pressed against his temple. He couldn’t remember if he kissed his wife goodbye when he left for work, or if he grabbed the sippy cup that was lying on its side, leaking milk on the baby seat in his car. The last number on the dial clicked into place releasing the handle of the safe. He pulled down on the handle and the door creaked open. In a sigh of relief, he leaned over and placed his back against the wall of the office, as the armed robber pushed passed him, greedily grabbing the cash. The robber’s attention, now focused on grabbing the money, was diverted and he laid the gun at his foot. The manager staring at the weapon quickly weighed his options. Should I grab the gun? Stay where I am? Get up and run?” The next chapter is yet to be written.