$189 Million Recovered from Retail Thieves in 2012

One in 40 Employees Was Apprehended for Theft from their Employer in 2012, the Survey States.

June 18, 2013

More than 1.1 million shoplifters and dishonest employees were apprehended by jut 23 major retailers in 2012, and authorities recovered $189 million from these thieves in 2012, according to the 25^th Annual Retail Theft Survey conducted by Jack L. Hayes International.

In 2012, shoplifting apprehensions increased 7.4 percent and recovery dollars from shoplifters increased 22.7 percent. Dishonest employee apprehensions and recovery dollars also increased in 2012, 5.5 percent and 7 percent respectively.

In addition, the survey finds that one out of every 40 employees was apprehended for theft from their employer in 2012 (based on more than 2.8 million employees), and dishonest employees steal approximately 5.5 times the amount stolen by shoplifters ($715.24 vs. $129.12).

There were 1,074,593 shoplifters apprehended in 2012 (a 7.4 percent increase from 2011), and while $138 million was recovered from apprehended shoplifters, an additional $46.8 million was recovered from shoplifters where no apprehension was made – up a significant 25.2 percent from 2011.

Ransomware and the propulsion of the extortion economy has rapidly eclipsed into a national priority. Recently, we observed the catastrophic impact of a widescale ransomware attack impacting gas pipelines and raising national gas prices overnight.