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The number of criminal offenses in domestic retail has increased in the past year, both online and in stores. “Four fifths of all Austrian businesses have already been affected by crime,” said Rainer Will, Managing Director of the Trade Association, on Tuesday at the presentation of the “security study”. This was created by the trade association with the Federal Criminal Police Office, and 150 traders were interviewed.
Theft, counterfeit money, begging
Shoplifting alone caused annual damage of around 500 million euros in domestic retail. Nine out of ten companies surveyed were victims of shoplifting in the previous year. Also on the list of the most common crimes: paying with counterfeit money (43 percent), organized begging and vandalism in the shop (22 each) and gang crime (18). Which items were stolen was not evaluated in the statistics.
Measures to protect against crime
“It is positive that almost all retailers have concrete measures to protect against crime in business in use,” said Robert Spevak, head of the audit and security department at the wholesaler Metro. Protective measures are employee training (63 percent), video surveillance (59), locking of all operating rooms (52) as well as goods security and burglar alarm systems (44).
Cyber crime is increasing
Retailers are also at risk of criminal offenses online. According to the survey, two-thirds said they had been victims of cybercriminals, and 34 percent had done so several times. For smaller trading companies, the amount of damage caused by online fraud is usually around 500 euros, for companies with more than ten employees it was between 5,000 and 10,000 euros on average. In the case of fraud, orders for which buyers are aware in advance that they cannot pay the bills are increasing, it is said.
Source: Nachrichten
