A new report says
that retail crime has been increasing as the economy has been worsening. The the Retail Industry Leaders Association's Crime Trends Survey revealed that 72% of respondents in its recent poll said that organized retail crime continues to grow, despite loss prevention efforts by retailers. Translation: there's a lot of shoplifting going on. But it's not just shoplifting that has been on the rise: financial fraud is on the rise, as well.
According to the Global Retail Theft Barometer published by the Centre for Retail Research, U.S. retailers spent an estimated $11.8 billion in 2007 on loss prevention efforts.
The survey included 32 of the largest retailers in the U.S., ranging from mass merchants to apparel specialty stores and supermarkets.
Sixty-one percent of retailers surveyed said amateur and "opportunistic" shoplifting had increased, while 55 percent said they had experienced financial fraud in the past four months.
Retail crime has also spread beyond cities and into regions, such as rural areas, that do not typically have high levels of criminal activity, according to the survey.
RILA's survey comes at a time when three bills aimed at cracking down on organized retail crime and imposing new requirements on online auction sites face consideration in Congress this year.
Crime usually does increase during times of economic uncertainty, and this recession is no exception to that rule.
