Category Archives: Trade Leaks

Trade leak: Wal-Mart in midst of massive loss prevention lay-off

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TAGREMOVERS.COM EXCLUSIVE: Wal-Mart is currently in a heavy cost-cutting exercise aimed at reducing its Asset Protection workforce, and replacing them with ‘asset protection customer specialists’, which in basic terms translates to ‘glorified door greeters’. The news comes soon after a Wal-Mart loss prevention officer was shot and killed pursuing a suspected shoplifter.

Sources working at Wal-Mart have informed us that team numbers for APAs (Asset Protection Associates) have been cut by at least two to three staff per store, in some cases leaving only one fully trained APA remaining. Some stores have also reported losing their APM (Asset Protection Manager). Naturally this is causing issues for proper monitoring of PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) equipped stores which require more than one APA to maintain constant visual contact. Constant visual contact is a policy that LP professionals must follow in order to make an apprehension.

The restructuring program commenced under the direction of new Asset Protection senior strategy manager, Joshua Ridgeway, who was promoted by Wal-Mart in March, 2016. Full details of the plan are still under wraps, but indications point to a change in Wal-Mart’s ‘stop’ policy, which they now seem to be moving away from. This will ultimately result in fewer apprehensions.

Wal-Mart’s remaining AP staff have taken to social media to complain of the situation, and some have even taken the drastic step of refusing to make apprehensions under the current scheme. Many others are reporting that shrinkage is now set to skyrocket, and will probably force the company to rethink its strategy in 12 month’s time. The discussion thread is very enlightening, and it’s likely that it will be hidden or removed once LP find out the story has broken, so here is a copy for safe keeping:

Wal-Mart LPs discuss lay-offs

Here’s a link to the discussion on Facebook.

More to come. Subscribe for updates.

Disclaimer: TAGREMOVERS.COM does not condone shoplifting or any other illegal activities. Articles are provided for informational and historical purposes only. (Read our Terms of Use)

Zoklet.net is going offline, permanently

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For any of our readers that also lurk in the realms of Zoklet – the rumours are true – the website will be shutting down in a matter of days. We can’t release the exact details of why this is happening, other than to say that it involves the leaking of personal information of one or more of its high level users.

This essentially means that the entire Zoklet forum will be pulled down to prevent certain persons from being linked to criminal activities. It also means that federal agents now have access to real life identities, and they may use that information to advance their investigations into Internet crime, of which Zoklet could be accused of perpetrating.

As a result there are several groups of users attempting to migrate to new forums:

  • intosanctuary.com [created May 08, 2014]
  • longlivezoklet.net [created Sep. 08, 2014 offline after owner doxed April 16, 2015]
  • avoyel.net [created Aug. 13, 2014 seized by, or was possibly linked to, the FBI]
  • www.niggasin.space [created Mar. 31, 2015]

List last updated January 08, 2016.

See the comments below. If there are any further developments we’ll post them.

Avoid buying or importing shoplifting tools from China

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a statement warning Internet users of their liabilities when purchasing certain goods from overseas suppliers. More often, we are hearing of items (potentially used for shoplifting) being seized, such as the detacher hook or magnetic pocket detachers.

On its website, U.S. Customs and Border Protection states;

“When goods move from any foreign country to the United States, they are being IMPORTED. There are specific rules and regulations that govern the act of importing – and they can be extremely complex and confusing – and costly.”

Using very clear and an increasingly authoritarian tone, they go on to state;

“When you buy goods from foreign sources, you become the importer. And it is the importer – in this case, YOU – who is responsible for assuring that the goods comply with a variety of both state and federal government import regulations.”

Two of the most important points that our readers should be concerned about are:

  1. Can the goods be legally imported?
  2. Can you trust the seller to provide accurate information about the item being shipped in the Customs section of the shipping documents?

So, if you’re not a shopkeeper, and you shouldn’t be in possession of these items, then you certainly should not be importing them. We advised our readers in a post on August 12, 2012, to avoid the issue altogether by purchasing from reputable USA based sellers. By doing so you avoid any permit issues and will not have your shipment scrutinised by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent who has the power to seize your goods and notify any relevant authority.

Trade Leak: Tyco pushes to save its Sensormatic brand

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Industry sources have been able to reveal that Tyco is currently in a push to haul in the misuse of its Sensormatic brand (Tyco owns Sensormatic Electronics LLC). The company has targeted several registrants of domain names containing the word ‘Sensormatic’ with a cease and desist notice. The notice also makes demands to the effect that domain name ownership must be transferred to Sensormatic in order to prevent further legal action.

So far, we’ve been able to confirm the following domain names have been targeted:

  • sensormatic-hook.com (SHUT DOWN)
  • sensormatichooks.com (SHUT DOWN)
  • sensormatichook.com (TRANSFERRED TO TYCO)
  • sensormatic.co (TARGETED TRANSFERRED TO TYCO)
  • More to be announced as information comes to hand

At present, it seems that Tyco have stopped short of requesting the removal of certain products which contain the Sensormatic brand name in their description. The irony here is that these products are in fact used to defeat their own intellectual property (e.g. SuperTags). We’ll keep a close eye on this to see if this position changes.

In regards to the rights and obligations of the original domain name owners, we are of the view that they should accept Tyco’s assertion and make efforts to proceed with the transfer. In no way can the ownership of the word Sensormatic be disputed, because it is a wholly owned and registered trademark belonging to the aforementioned company.