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ORC - Organised Retail Crime in the UK
ORC involves sophisticated crime rings that typically steal (by shoplifting ) and store huge
quantities of merchandise in a targeted area. They then resell the stolen
merchandise through pubs, pawn shops and, increasingly, on
Internet auction sites. ORC crime rings often use these profits to
fund other criminal activities.
In a retailer with inadequate Loss Prevention expertise, security staff may constantly deal with low value petty theft and amateur shoplifting, whilst ORC gangs operate with impunity right under their noses.
ORC gangs are operating on a very large scale in the UK now. Many gangs exclusively target one specific retailer, having developed a sales outlet for their merchandise. Others ruthlessly exploit soft refund policies, travelling from store to store, converting stolen merchandise, credit notes and gift cards to cash by using mixed tenders in a purchase.
These gangs cost every UK citizen a great deal of money. They gang put upwards pressure on retail prices, especially when at product level, a retailer may end up making a loss on specific products.
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