🎗️ 👩🏿‍🤝‍👨🏾 🧓🏿 Control cash transactions: how to avoid fraud 🤵 🍋 🌨️

Together with the Evotor online cash register manufacturer, we launched an application for detecting suspicious cash transactions using cameras.

Suspicious transactions most often conceal employee fraud - sophisticated and difficult to control types of theft.

Entrepreneurs in small businesses can not pay enough attention to the fight against fraud at the box office. With one cashier it’s easier to believe in the paradigm of “they don’t steal from me!” In addition, the cost of control solutions has always remained unbearable.

We expect to change the situation for the better with the help of the Ivideon Cashier system, which detects all suspicious activity at the checkout and “tells” which document and video fragment attached to it should be paid attention to.

This is the most affordable cash management system in the market for setting up, using and connecting. And we also have a free trial period available - it's easy to make your own impression of security at the box office.

Problems of organization of control of cash operations

Finding and retaining staff remains one of the biggest challenges for street retail.

According to the HR Director magazine, 30% of the staff in the restaurant business changes annually. But this is far from the limit. For some retailers, 80% of staff turnover is considered the norm. It is difficult to build trust with such a level of outflow of labor.

The cashier is one of the lowest paid professions, and at the same time this employee deals with a large amount of money and goods every day. Not surprisingly, losses in the cash zone account for 40 to 60% of all thefts initiated by company personnel.

Experts agree that the best defense against burglary is quick detection. The greatest loss is a business when employees steal small amounts over a long period of time. Therefore, the sooner you discover theft, the better.

Cash registers have come a long way from the manual entry of all transactions to computers that track inventory, record sales, and generate reports for analysis. With the development of processing systems for cash transactions, the qualifications of fraudsters have also grown.

In general, theft at points of sale is a theft of money without serious attempts to hide evidence. But fraud is an elegant game in which the fact of a crime is difficult to detect in the short term.

Let's take a closer look at all the main ways with which they steal in cash zones.

Methods of cash fraud

1. Fraud with return of goods

An employee executes a fictitious return of goods or cancels a legal transaction, and then takes the money.

The scheme can be expanded - the real customer returns the goods, but the employee arranges a refund for an amount that is greater than the cost of the goods. The premium remains with the fraudster.

By prior agreement, the buyer can return not the goods themselves, but only their packaging.

2. Abuse of discounts and bonuses

Many companies offer staff discounts on their products. Employees may abuse this privilege, provide “on the side” unauthorized discounts or additional services.

A cashier can use his loyalty card when an ordinary customer needs it to receive a discount. The client receives a discount on the card, and the employee receives bonus points that are accumulated day after day.

A dangerous, rarely used, but still existing way is to replace a customer card with a new one without points.

3. Cancellation and correction of the check

Working with cash is a great opportunity to prevent the sale from being fixed and steal money from an unregistered transaction. No fixation - no theft, at the end of the day the balance will completely match. However, to carry out fraud, it is necessary that the client does not pick up the check.

If the client receives the goods, but does not receive the check, the sale technically did not take place. An unreceived check can be canceled or adjusted: cancel several items, change the quantity of goods. The cashier takes the remaining cash for himself.

Even if the buyer habitually waits for the check, the fraudster will cheat and give any other "worked out" check. Problems will arise only when checking stocks, but by then the cashier will already change jobs.

4. Barcode cheating

The way shoplifters often use it is professional shoplifters who steal for the pleasure of the crime process itself.

The barcode scanner automatically updates the inventory indicator, however, the cashier is responsible for verifying that the barcode matches the product leaving the premises.

The buyer in collusion with the cashier or on their own can re-code the code from cheap goods to expensive ones. For example, a box of Chebupitsy can be exchanged for packaging from cheaper Chebupeli to pay less. It is also easy to stick a barcode from a lighter one on a weighted item.

An experienced trickster cashier will print and paste a barcode on his hand with the weight and price encoded in it. When scanning a weighted product that an accomplice will bring, the cashier will substitute a barcode on his hand. The same method is suitable for replacing any other goods - it’s easy to add a price tag with a different price to the most popular ones.

5. Fraud with the last position of the check

Imagine buying two bottles of milk and a loaf of bread. In total you have to pay 130 rubles. You only have cash. The cashier scans the first two items and “forgets” to scan the bread. You notice the amount of 100 rubles on the screen of the cash register terminal, but the cashier tells you the correct figure - 130 rubles. You give money and receive a check in which there is no bread. You point the cashier to an error and get a second check, the correct one.

At that moment, when the buyer does not pay attention to the contents of the check, and leaves with the purchase, theft occurs. At the cash desk, only purchased goods registered by the barcode scanner are displayed. The buyer often does not pay attention to the nuances of the cashier’s behavior if the amount that he has to pay meets his expectations. But the difference in value between paid and fixed goods settles in the pockets of the fraudster.

An experienced cashier cheats and an attentive buyer. To do this, it is enough to defiantly scan all goods. The buyer will see the correct price on the display and give the desired amount. Then the cashier will count the change, and before closing the check, he filigree will remove the last position from the check.

6. Reusable purchases

Cheating common in restaurants. A customer goes to the bar and orders a popular beer. The bartender prints the check, and the client pays in cash. However, at the checkout, the bartender does not close the check. Fifteen minutes later, the second customer orders the same beer. Instead of entering it into the cash system, the bartender reprints the check of the first customer. When the second customer pays for the order, the initial check closes, and cash from the first order remains unaccounted for.

7. The game of promotion

The previous method received an interesting development. At the beginning of the shift, the waiter sends to the cash register frequently ordered goods (soda, salad, coffee). When this item is ordered, the waiter will open a check with two items and then transfer the cost of the second item to an empty transaction.

If the client forgot to pick up the check, then why break it? The check remains open until the next customer. If a buyer appears with a large order (in which, with a high probability, there will be frequently ordered goods), then the record will go to the same check. The money of the previous client will naturally fall into the waiter’s pocket.

The method has found application in retail - the cashier on the tape selects the cheapest product first and scans it first. After the buyer leaves, the cashier cancels all the goods except the first one, and adds the goods of the next buyer to the existing check.

8. A “good” waiter

This trick cannot be called a full theft, but it incurs a loss to the business. The waiters use various tricks to get a generous tip from the client. For example, they put a “welcome drink” on the table, add a “compliment from the chef”, use all possible promotions and pay more attention to some clients than others.

Thus, the client feels that the waiter is more generous and helpful, so he leaves a large tip, while the restaurant loses food and profit.

9. “Dissatisfied customer”

Sometimes employees conspire for theft. In addition to the waiters, room managers are often involved in this business.

You could hear about such stories or saw the situations themselves when a dissatisfied customer was brought another order “at the expense of the establishment”.

Service "at the expense of the institution" can get the managers themselves. To do this, they fake a claim for poor quality service.

Not all owners cherish the reputation of their restaurant. In this case, a fictitious statement is drawn up stating that the client left and did not pay.

10. The button "No sale" and the release of products at a free price

In any situation where the cashier has access to the “No sale” button to confirm the cancellation of the transaction, there is a risk of theft. Another potentially weak spot of the cash system is the ability not only to cancel the sale of goods, but also to independently indicate its cost.

Most often, the cashier may try to adjust the price in his favor in the following cases:

conflict resolution. For example, when the client is informed that the price tag has already been updated, and the information in the database has not yet been displayed correctly;
sales of products upon detection of defects. Such goods can be officially sold, by agreement with the administration, at a lower cost ... or sold at inflated prices, and you can pick up the difference;
breaking through the amount without specifying the name. For example, if the product is not capitalized or the article is entered incorrectly.

11. Sale by cash desk

The employee himself brings the product or drink and receives money from the sale to its customers. This method is especially popular for selling alcohol at night.

Formally, the business does not incur losses ... but it does not receive profit, and no one has canceled the risks for the illegal entrepreneurship of employees.

Such actions can be classified as tax evasion, violation of trade rules, sale of counterfeit goods and so on.

The cashier can also act on the direct instructions of the employer - sell alcohol at night for cash, and punch the check in the daytime on similar bottles. At the same time, nothing prevents the seller from increasing the cost of the bottle by 10-15%, and taking the difference in cash to himself.

12. Deception in the sale of packaging of goods

The cashier scans the package, but does not change the quantity by the number of goods in the package. Thus, you can buy a box of beer at the price of one can.

13. Adding goods to the check

Used on inattentive customers - children, retirees and anyone who buys a lot of similar products. As soon as the cashier understands that he is not a corrosive customer, he simply scans the same product twice, increasing the check.

14. Cash desk reboot

A series of fraudulent transactions related to the reboot of the cash register. As soon as the cashier receives the money, he immediately sends the cash register terminal to reboot. On some legacy systems, this operation will reset the last opened check. By the time the reboot is complete, the buyer will get tired of waiting and leave without a check.

15. Theft of change

A “clumsy”, but popular way to get rich at the expense of an inattentive buyer. The client is talked about and distracted so that he simply forgets about the change.

The buyer can give a five-thousandth bill, and get change as with five hundred rubles.
The cashier monitors the reaction of the buyer and at any time is ready to issue the correct change, removing all suspicions from himself.

16. Post hoc editing

A cashier withdraws money from the cashier, and adjusts the amount in cash receipts held several days before the theft. At the same time, the thief has several ways to hide the shortage: deleting a receipt, reducing the amount, retroactively checking.

Solving cash management control problems

Almost all frauds are possible simply because the company does not have control and an automation system. The only way to prevent the theft of cashiers is to combine video surveillance with the analysis of cash transactions.

By integrating video surveillance with POS-system data, you will significantly reduce the time required to disclose theft and protect the business from another fraud.

Our solution to the problem of cash fraud is the Ivideon Cash desk cloud service, which detects suspicious activities: non-penetration or partial penetration of a check, double penetration, “outstanding” check, cancellation of transactions and other atypical operations.

The system “tells” which document and the attached video fragment to pay attention to.

For convenient search, the service offers 6 types of filters: employees, cash desks, documents, cash events, document positions, period.

The flexibility of the filter settings makes it easy to determine whether a particular employee introduces an unusually large number of discounts, whether the terminal uses after hours, receives more or less money compared to other personnel.

Since each cash desk transaction is recorded, the owner and managers can view data on all suspicious transactions.

Despite the fact that the theft may occur outside the box office, regularly comparing sales with stocks, it is possible to assess what product turnover is considered normal and where violations are possible. If the numbers don't add up, just watch the video from the cameras. Comparison of sellers' indicators with each other also helps to identify fraudulent schemes.

How to connect online control of cash registers

Ivideon Cash desks is an Ivideon cloud-based video surveillance system module that currently only works with Evotor cash registers.

The module is available in the store at the link . We provide a free trial period during which all the functions of the system are available - for this you need to leave a request on this page .

In the future we will expand the list of supported cash systems, stay tuned.

Control cash transactions: how to avoid fraud