| Crime Reported | No Crime Reported |
Have you ever received a suspicious phone call or email from an unfamiliar person who requests jewelry to be shipped overnight?
This scenario may seem fraudulent as you read it or hear about it, but given the right context, the person on the other end can sound quite convincing. Lately, the Jewelers' Security Alliance has been alerted to numerous incidents of fraudulent activity where criminals know a great deal about the businesses they are calling and the companies they claim to represent.
What's even more alarming is that some criminals pose as clients or co-workers and are so in-tune with a company's procedures that they can successfully convince staff members to fulfill a shipment without thinking twice. Once the package is shipped, they will try to reroute it to a different address and pocket the merchandise from there.
In addition to the typical threats of smash-and-grab robberies and grab-and-run thefts that have plagued the jewelry industry recently, scams targeting jewelers is another challenge to contend with. Whether it be check or credit card fraud, or even social engineering scenarios described above, these crimes can be committed by criminals on the other side of the country.
That means jewelers everywhere need to take extra precaution in addition to the measures already being taken to prevent robberies, burglaries, and thefts.
Before diving into some of the specific incidents that have recently occurred, take a look at how the latest jewelry crime report breaks down:
Data compiled from jewelerssecurity.org
Now, here's an in-depth look at five particular crimes, with tips that every jeweler can learn from. Visit JSA's daily blog to get a full recap of all the crimes.
| When | Where | What |
| Saturday, June 24 | San Francisco, CA | Grab-and-Run Theft |
| Saturday, June 24 | Moore, OK | Switch Theft |
| Sunday, June 18 | Santa Ana, CA | Smash-and-Grab Robbery |
| Saturday, June 17 | Columbia, SC | Three Minute Burglary |
| Thursday, June 8 | New York, NY | Fraud Theft |
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| When | Where | What |
| Sunday, June 18 | Santa Ana, CA | Smash-and-Grab Robbery |
| Crime Description | ||
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At approximately 2:13 p.m., three suspects appearing to be Hispanic men in their early twenties entered a jewelry store located within a supermarket. All three were wearing dark clothing and had bandanas with skulls covering their faces. One suspect smashed the cases, while one grabbed the jewelry and the other kept watch. As seen in surveillance video shared by the Santa Ana Police Department, the suspects fled the store and were chased by the owner who wielded a baseball bat.
The stolen merchandise consisted of a tray of gold wedding bands. Anyone with information on any of the suspects in this crime are asked to contact Officer C. Donahue at 714-245-8268, [email protected] or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS. |
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