March 14, 2007
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NEWS: Fraud Costs Canadian Retailers Big $$$A startling news story initially published on Canada.com revealed that fraud and theft are costing Canadian retailers some 8 million dollars a day, or 3 billion dollars a year. That's no small chunk of change, and the nation's retailers are saying that it is getting to be far more than merely the cost of doing business. The Retail Council of Canada defines retail crime as "everything from shoplifting, container theft, counterfeiting and refund fraud, to the use of fraudulent credit, debit and gift cards and identity theft," and states that it is getting to be out of control.
Organized retail crime is growing on the continent as a whole. Canada's $3 billion burden last year was only a sliver of North America's $40 billion loss. Breaking down Canada's problem, an estimated $201 million was lost to credit card fraud; $70.4 million to debit card fraud; and 422,447 counterfeit bank notes were passed and seized in various denominations. Canada was also victim to large amounts of container theft, which is an emerging global phenomenon. Container theft involves tractor trailers, ships, or trains, where crooks actually unload and walk away with huge shipments of whatever is being carried.
March is Fraud Prevention Month across Canada, and those in charge are doing their best to ensure the message of education and prevention is widespread. Visa Canada and the Bank of Canada are each doing their part, the former in providing education materials to retailers across the country, and the latter in holding seminars on counterfeit money. Interestingly enough, the bank seems to think that counterfeiting is on a downtrend – apparently, incidence of the crime hit a high with the advent of super high-tech color printers, and has gradually ebbed, giving way to identity theft scams in the way of fashionable fraud.