01 jili
By Pierce Oel A. Montalvo IT’S ONE SMALL STEP for the central bank, and one giant leap for the Philippine banking industry. Signed last July, the new Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) signifies the most comprehensive attempt yet to protect Filipino consumers from digital financial crimes. Beyond the short-term, the AFASA serves as a cornerstone for the central bank’s 2024–2029 Financial Services Cyber Resilience Plan. The plan outlines a comprehensive roadmap and key framework designed to strengthen the financial services sector’s resilience against cyber threats. “It will protect our people from falling prey to perpetrators who target their banks and e-wallet accounts,” President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said during the signing ceremony of the law. The legislation reflected a shared commitment among government and financial leaders to address the growing threat of cybercrime head-on. “We express our full support for the new anti-financial account scamming law. This will help us strengthen consumer protection and foster trust and confidence in the Philippine financial system,” said Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. Online scams continue to happen just about anywhere, and at unprecedented rates. A study by the nonprofit Global Anti-Scam Alliance revealed that approximately $1.03 trillion was lost by consumers worldwide in scams in 2023. According to data from the same study, the Philippines would have lost an estimated P459.98 billion from digital scams during the same year, or 1.9% of its economic output. Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky also reported that the Philippines recorded the highest number of financial phishing attempts targeting business devices in Southeast Asia in 2023, with 163,279 incidents detected and blocked throughout the year. The BSP further reported that 59.48% of cyber fraud losses among BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) in 2023 were attributed to account takeovers, identity theft, and phishing. Overall, cyberfraud losses surged by 212% compared to 2022. “[T]his is essential in this time as cybercriminals use technology to defraud fellow Filipinos — causing not only personal economic loss through them but also a loss of trust in financial institutions,” said Mr. Marcos. These figures underscored an urgency of robust legal and institutional measures to combat digital financial crimes. The specifics of the AFASA reveal how the BSP aims to reinforce financial security in the Philippines. THE LAW IN BRIEF AFASA seeks to strengthen security measures and boost consumer confidence in the expanding financial technology sector. In an annual report by Fintech News Philippines, e-money accounts grew by 12.9% to 47.6 million as of the second quarter of 2022. Meanwhile, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) revealed that the proportion of Filipino adults with bank accounts rose to 65% in 2022, up from 56% in 2021. A key element of the AFASA is its explicit definition of “financial account scamming,” which points to a range of illicit activities. These include traditional money muling operations, where individuals utilize their accounts to facilitate the transfer of illicit funds. “[Money muling operations include] opening accounts using fake names or identity documents belonging to other people and selling or renting out financial accounts,” said Atty. Nicasio A. Conti, chief executive officer of research and intelligence agency Capstone-Intel, in a Messenger chat. The AFASA also recognizes social engineering schemes as a form of financial account scamming. “Examples of social engineering schemes include impersonating a representative of an institution to obtain sensitive information or using electronic communications to deceive someone and gain access to their information,” said Mr. Conti. The AFASA also designates money muling or social engineering as “economic sabotage” if it involves: (a) conspiracy of three or more people; (b) three or more victims; (c) mass mailers; or (d) human trafficking. “There is no specific threshold for amount involved or specific pattern to be considered to qualify a money muling activity or a social engineering scheme as economic sabotage,” said the BSP in a statement. “As long as the money muling activity or social engineering scheme is committed in the manner mentioned above, it shall be considered economic sabotage.” Penalties under AFASA are extensive. Money muling carries 6-8 years imprisonment and/or fines from P100,000 to P500,000. Social engineering scams result in 10-12 years (up to 14 if the victim is a senior citizen) and fines up to P1 million (or up to P2 million for senior citizen victims). Economic sabotage can lead to life imprisonment and fines up to P5 million. BSFIs will also be responsible for reimbursing customers who lose money due to scams if the bank didn’t have proper anti-fraud measures in place or acted negligently. They will also be liable if they fail to freeze funds involved in a disputed transaction as required by the new law. “For claims not exceeding P10 million, aggrieved account holders may file a formal complaint for adjudication before the Consumer Complaints Resolution Office of the BSP,” the central bank said. The scope of AFASA extends beyond traditional banking services as well. Mr. Conti said that the AFASA covers all types of financial accounts, including deposit accounts, trust accounts, investment accounts, credit card accounts, and electronic wallets. This broad coverage ensures comprehensive protection against various forms of financial account scamming across the board. The AFASA also compels all BSFIs to adopt more rigorous measures to protect consumers. In a memorandum elaborating upon AFASA’s prescribed risk management systems, the BSP reinforces the responsibility of BSFIs to employ proper fraud management systems, infrastructure and security monitoring, multi-factor authentication, and user enrollment and verification processes. According to the same memorandum, BSFIs are now expected to keep extensive audit trails for e-service transactions. BSFIs now must also undergo annual Vulnerability and Penetration Testing from independent external parties. “The degree of sophistication and layers of risk management system and controls depends on the size, nature and complexity of BSFIs’ business models and operations,” said the BSP. Another highlight of the new law is the heightened power of the BSP in its investigation of financial accounts. “BSP deemed it necessary to obtain new powers to help law enforcement authorities (LEAs) and competent government agencies in preventing and combatting financial account scams,” the BSP added. Through the AFASA, the BSP gains the power to investigate suspicious transactions and share related information with law enforcement. The BSP emphasized that financial account investigations would require prior evidence of potential involvement in money muling or social engineering schemes, and that any resulting information would be shared solely with LEAs and relevant government authorities. “Any information that may be shared by BSP should be used solely for the purpose of filing and prosecuting a criminal case for violation of the AFASA,” said the BSP. Consequently, bank secrecy laws do not apply to financial accounts under investigation of the BSP. These exemptions apply to the Law on Secrecy of Bank Deposits, the Foreign Currency Deposits Act of the Philippines, and the Revised Non-Stock Savings and Loan Association Act of 1997. This measure modifies the application of said laws, facilitating greater government oversight for investigations made by the BSP. “It should be understood, however, that the authority to enforce penal provisions of the AFASA, including the powers to investigate and prosecute the prohibited acts defined under the law, make arrests and to file criminal complaints, are still lodged with the LEAs and appropriate authorities,” the BSP said. THE SENTIMENT By enhancing security, the AFASA aims to boost consumer confidence and promote wider use of financial services, aligning with the BSP’s goals for a robust digital financial ecosystem. However, according to the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), the strict measures of the AFASA may leave to unintended outcomes. “For example, the rapid freeze and verification requirements may introduce operational delays, particularly if the verification process or industry-wide reporting mechanisms lack standardization,” the BAP said in an e-mail interview. “This could result in temporary inconveniences for legitimate account holders and delays in fund access during verification procedures.” Carlos T. Tengkiat, chief information security officer for Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said that there should be no unforeseen consequences arising from the new law. “There are safeguards in place [that] also the penalize those who seek to abuse the information sharing portion of the investigation among various public and private sector personnel,” he said in an e-mail. The BAP also said that informal sector participants who lack understanding of the legal risks associated with account misuse may initially face challenges. The BSP’s 2021 financial inclusion survey revealed that only 7% of Filipinos have attended a seminar on financial literacy. Furthermore, only 2% of Filipino respondents answered all six basic financial literacy questions correctly, in the same survey. “This emphasizes the need for an extensive public awareness campaign to inform the public and SMEs of AFASA’s regulations and discourage them from unknowingly participating in money-muling activities,” said the BAP. “The informal financial sector would benefit because the law gives avenues for them for investigation as well as restitution for the crimes committed against them,” said Mr. Tengkiat. Capstone-Intel’s Mr. Conti said that balancing strict security protocols with a smooth customer experience will also be a critical concern. “Of course, there still are the provisions of the Data Privacy Act. Overly stringent measures could frustrate users, so banks need to focus on user-friendly yet secure solutions.” Mr. Tengkiat also said that be the shifting landscape of technologies as well as the creativity of fraudsters would be a potential challenge. “These may make controls fluid, to cope with these financial institutions must be able to anticipate new threats, adopt new technologies as well as preserving good customer experience when their services are used,” Mr. Tengkiat said. Despite the new law, trust in financial technology remains compromised among Filipino consumers, amid scams persisting in the country’s financial landscape. “I’m usually very careful,” said Nikki Bryce Roque, in his Facebook post, recounting how he lost his entire mobile wallet balance to financial account scammers last November. A seemingly legitimate text message, sent through the wallet’s official SMS number, alerted Mr. Roque to an impending insurance renewal and prompted him to click a link to cancel the charge. The link led him through a series of supposedly official web pages requesting his one-time password and mobile wallet PIN, resulting in an unauthorized transaction that drained his account dry. “They can even invade legit sites and incorporate their scamming mechanisms there,” said Mr. Roque in a Messenger chat. A recent survey by mobile operator trade body GSMA reveals that 71.4% of Filipinos perceive growing risks to account security, with financial fraud being a major concern. Furthermore, a 2023 GSMA survey revealed that 67% of Filipinos did not report instances of scams to law enforcement. Reporting was hampered by complexity, perceived ineffectiveness, and uncertainty about where to report. When asked if he believed he was adequately informed by his banks, service providers, or even the BSP, Mr. Roque said: “No, I didn’t even know it exists.” Another e-wallet user and scam victim, who requests to remain anonymous, also said that he was not aware with the law’s existence. Investigations by his service provider regarding his case claimed that one-time passwords were sent to only the user’s device, a claim the user says is impossible. He has since contacted both his e-wallet service provider and the BSP through official channels about his incident, albeit hearing no response from the central bank. “It feels like they didn’t take any action regarding my concern. They didn’t even reach out to me once.” Mr. Roque said that the new law has only transferred the responsibility to central banks and not to the institutions who are needing more stringent security features. “If the bank heavily invests in the investigation phase rather than strengthening its security features, it means they are willing to let their clients get robbed as long as they are not held legally liable.” Nonetheless, the BAP remains optimistic. “The BAP anticipates that AFASA will encourage the sector to expand product offerings focused on account security and fraud prevention, which aligns with the association’s goals of elevating cybersecurity standards in Philippine banking and providing consumers with secure, reliable financial services,” the BAP said.BEIRUT (AP) — A Syrian opposition war monitor and a pro-government media outlet say government forces have withdrawn from much of the central city of Homs. The pro-government Sham FM reported that government forces took positions outside Syria’s third-largest city, without elaborating. Rami Abdurrahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Syrian troops and members of different security agencies have withdrawn from the city, adding that rebels have entered parts of it. Losing Homs is a potentially crippling blow for Syria’s embattled leader, Bashar Assad. The city stands at an important intersection between Damascus and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus — the Syrian leader’s base of support and home to a Russian strategic naval base. Its capture is a major victory for insurgents, who have already seized the cities of Aleppo and Hama , as well as large parts of the south, in a lightning offensive that began Nov. 27. Analysts said Homs falling into rebel hands would be a game-changer. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. BEIRUT (AP) — Insurgents' stunning march across Syria gained speed on Saturday with news that they had reached the suburbs of the capital and with the government forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country. The rebels' moves around Damascus, reported by an opposition war monitor and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. In their push to overthrow Assad's government, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army. For the first time in the country's long-running civil war, the government now has control of only four of 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Homs, Latakia and Tartus. The U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, on Saturday called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country is Assad's chief international backer, said he feels “sorry for the Syrian people.” In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands went to Syria's border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country. Many shops in the capital were shuttered, a resident told The Associated Press, and those still open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some were selling items at three times the normal price. “The situation is very strange. We are not used to that,” the resident said, insisting on anonymity, fearing retributions. “People are worried whether there will be a battle (in Damascus) or not.” It was the first time that opposition forces reached the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. The U.N. said it was moving noncritical staff outside the country as a precaution. Syria’s state media denied social media rumors that Assad left the country, saying he is performing his duties in Damascus. He has had little, if any, help from his allies. Russia, is busy with its war in Ukraine . Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up Assad's forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel. Iran has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular Israeli airstrikes. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday posted on social media that that the United States should avoid engaging militarily in Syria. Pedersen said a date for talks in Geneva on the implementation a U.N. resolution, adopted in 2015, and calling for a Syrian-led political process, would be announced later. The resolution calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with U.N.-supervised elections. Later Saturday, foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran, along with Pederson, gathered on the sidelines of the Doha Summit to discuss the situation in Syria. No details were immediately available. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya. Opposition fighters were marching toward the Damascus suburb of Harasta, he added. A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus. HTS controls much of northwest Syria and in 2017 set up a “salvation government” to run day-to-day affairs in the region. In recent years, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has sought to remake the group’s image, cutting ties with al-Qaida, ditching hard-line officials and vowing to embrace pluralism and religious tolerance. Syria’s military, meanwhile, sent large numbers of reinforcements to defend the key central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest, as insurgents approached its outskirts. The shock offensive began Nov. 27, during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, and the central city of Hama , the country’s fourth largest city. Opposition activists said Saturday that a day earlier, insurgents entered Palmyra, which is home to invaluable archaeological sites had been in government hands since being taken from the Islamic State group in 2017. To the south, Syrian troops left much of the province of Quneitra including the main Baath City, activists said. Syrian Observatory said government troops have withdrawn from much of the two southern provinces and are sending reinforcements to Homs, where a battle loomed. If the insurgents capture Homs, they would cut the link between Damascus, Assad’s seat of power, and the coastal region where the president enjoys wide support. The Syrian army said in a statement that it carried out redeployment and repositioning in Sweida and Daraa after its checkpoints came under attack by “terrorists." The army said it was setting up a “strong and coherent defensive and security belt in the area,” apparently to defend Damascus from the south. The Syrian government has referred to opposition gunmen as terrorists since conflict broke out in March 2011. The foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey, meeting in Qatar, called for an end to the hostilities. Turkey is a main backer of the rebels. Qatar's top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, criticized Assad for failing to take advantage of the lull in fighting in recent years to address the country’s underlying problems. “Assad didn’t seize this opportunity to start engaging and restoring his relationship with his people,” he said. Sheikh Mohammed said he was surprised by how quickly the rebels have advanced and said there is a real threat to Syria’s “territorial integrity.” He said the war could “damage and destroy what is left if there is no sense of urgency” to start a political process. Karam reported from London. Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.
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President-elect Donald Trump on Friday nominated Dr. Marty Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration , selecting a surgeon and author who gained national attention for opposing vaccine mandates and some other public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Makary, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, is the latest in a string of Trump nominees who have declared the U.S. health system “broken” and in need of a shakeup. In books and articles Makary has decried the overprescribing of drugs, the use of pesticides on foods and the undue influence of pharmaceutical and insurance companies over doctors and government regulators. He will need to be confirmed by the Republican-led Senate to take the post. Trump announced the nomination in a statement Friday night, saying Makary “will restore FDA to the gold standard of scientific research, and cut the bureaucratic red tape at the agency to make sure Americans get the medical cures and treatments they deserve.” Headquartered in the Maryland suburbs outside Washington, the 18,000 employees of the FDA are responsible for the safety and effectiveness of prescription drugs , vaccines and medical devices as well as a swath of other consumer goods, including food , cosmetics and vaping products . Altogether those products represent an estimated 20% of U.S. consumer spending annually, or $2.6 trillion. Makary gained prominence on Fox News and other conservative outlets for his contrarian views during the COVID-19 pandemic. He questioned the need for masking and, though not opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine, had concerns about vaccinations in young children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that COVID-19 vaccinations prevented more than 686,000 U.S. deaths in 2020 and 2021 alone. While children faced much lower rates of hospitalization and death from the virus, medical societies including the American Academy of Pediatrics concluded that vaccinations significantly reduced severe disease in the age group. Trained as a surgeon and cancer specialist, Makary was part of a vocal group of physicians calling for greater emphasis on herd immunity to stop the virus, or the idea that mass infections would quickly lead to population-level protection. In a February 2021 Wall Street Journal piece , he wrote that “COVID will be mostly gone by April, allowing Americans to resume normal life.” That summer the delta variant of the virus ripped through the U.S. , followed by omicron in the winter, leading to hundreds of thousands of additional deaths. If confirmed, Makary would be expected to report to anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , Trump's pick to oversee the nation’s Department of Health and Human Services , which includes the FDA. Makary does not share Kennedy’s discredited views on vaccines , but he has a similar distrust of the pharmaceutical industry. Makary has lamented how drugmakers used misleading data to urge doctors to prescribe OxyContin and other opioids as low-risk, non-addictive pain relievers. That marketing was permitted under FDA-approved labeling from the 1990s, suggesting the drugs were safe for common ailments like back pain. In more recent years, the FDA has come under fire for approving drugs for Alzheimer's , ALS and other conditions based on incomplete data that failed to show meaningful benefits for patients. A push toward greater scrutiny of drug safety and effectiveness would be a major reversal at FDA, which for decades has focused on speedier drug approvals . That trend has been fueled by industry lobbying and fees paid by drugmakers to help the FDA hire additional reviewers. Kennedy has proposed ending those payments, which would require billions in new funding from the federal budget. Other administration priorities would likely run into similar roadblocks. For instance, Kennedy wants to bar drugmakers from advertising on TV , a multibillion-dollar market that supports many TV and cable networks. The Supreme Court and other conservative judges would likely overturn such a ban on First Amendment grounds that protect commercial speech, experts note. Makary would also inherit a raft of ongoing projects at the FDA kicked off by outgoing Commissioner Robert Califf, including the reorganization of the agency's food division and plans to regulate artificial intelligence in medical technology. In the event of other controversial initiatives under Trump, career staffers may simply drag the work out until a new administration comes to power. “The bureaucracy can wait anybody out, and that’s an attitude I think you’ll hear a lot,” said Wayne Pines, a former FDA official under Republican and Democratic administrations. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Black Friday may be done and dusted for another year, but the discounts are still flowing at Debenhams. The online retailer has continued it's Cyber Week and there's some unmissable bargains still to be had ahead of Christmas. The digital department store is offering up to 75% off a countless range of items, with an additional discount of up to 20% on over 10,000 products. With fashion and beauty enthusiasts in mind, Debenhams' latest sale is a potential treasure trove for festive gift-shopping. Among the numerous bargains on offer, there's one particular deal that's catching the eyes of shoppers. Right now, Debenhams fans are rushing to buy a a luxury watch that's been slashed in price by a whopping 86% . READ MORE: 'I'm a fashion writer - this £199 designer Coach bag reduced from £500 is too good to miss' READ MORE: Debenhams £100 'on trend' coat reduced to £30 that's 'insulated and water repellent' The Stührling Original Lineage Ladies Quartz 31mm Watch With Crystal Markers , previously listed at £475 on Debenhams’, is now at a heavily reduced price of £67.99 in the huge sale event, which equates to around £407 in savings, reports the Mirror. The product description from Debenhams reads: "Live your legacy with the sleek polish and ultra-thin profile of the Lineage. Case Size 31mm A jeweled bezel perfectly frames the obelisk-style hands and crystal markers. The Miyota 2115 Japanese quartz movement keeps the Lineage ticking on time while keeping the ultra-slim 9mm profile. Finished with a 16mm stainless steel link bracelet for sharp looks and supreme comfort." The watch is available in a variety of colours, including black, copper, gold, silver, blue and rose gold. The product has an overall rating of 4.4 stars out out five, having racked up a number of rave reviews. The Stührling Original Lineage Ladies Quartz 31mm Watch has been slashed by 86% (Image: Debenhams) Among them, one person said: "I've purchased this watch as a Christmas present for my wife. The order arrived in the time specified, the watch looks amazing, I know my wife will love it." A second wrote: "Definitely a watch to purchase. I am really pleased with this luxury watch. Beautifully made." A third excited customer added: "Stunning watch. This watches looks so expensive comes in a beautiful box. It is ideal for a lovely Christmas gift." Other shoppers, while still impressed with the watch, claimed it was quite large and took longer than expected to be delivered. One said: "Stunning watch, needed a few links off, but is so comfortable to wear and is beautiful, can’t get over the price." The Lineage Ladies Quartz 31mm Watch With Crystal Markers is available in six stunning colourways (Image: Debenhams) A second wrote: "I am the proud owner of a beautiful watch which (eventually) arrived in a lovely presentation box. It also came with its authentication card. It has a look of luxury. "I gave four stars, purely because it took longer than I expected to arrive but Customer Service kept me well updated. Thank you." Another added: "Beautiful watch, it was exactly what I had wanted, good quality, took a bit longer to get here but wasn't disappointed in the result." Alternatively, Debenhams also has a number of other deals on watches including the Stührling Original Lady Casatorra Elite 4005 Quartz 29mm Fashion on sale for £50.39, down from £395, and the Stührling Original Women's Watch for £83.99, down from £890. Fossil also has the Karli Three-Hand Rose Gold-Tone Stainless Steel Watch for £71, down from £119. While H. Samuel stocks the Radley London Ladies' Pink Leather Strap Watch for £49.99, down from £99.99.
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CHICAGO — Shoplifting rates in the three largest U.S. cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — remain higher than they were before the pandemic, according to a last month from the nonpartisan research group Council on Criminal Justice. Related Articles The sharp rise in retail theft in recent years has made shoplifting a hot-button issue, especially for politicians looking to address public safety concerns in their communities. Since 2020, when viral videos of smash-and-grab robberies flooded social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans have expressed fears that crime is out of control. Polls show that perceptions have improved recently, but a majority of Americans crime is worse than in previous years. “There is this sense of brazenness that people have — they can just walk in and steal stuff. ... That hurts the consumer, and it hurts the company,” said Alex Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Miami and former director of the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, in an interview. “That’s just the world we live in,” he said. “We need to get people to realize that you have to obey the law.” At least eight states — Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, New York and Vermont — passed a total of 14 bills in 2024 aimed at tackling retail theft, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The measures range from redefining retail crimes and adjusting penalties to allowing cross-county aggregation of theft charges and protecting retail workers. Major retailers have responded to rising theft since 2020 by locking up merchandise, upgrading security cameras, hiring private security firms and even closing stores. Still, the report indicates that shoplifting remains a stubborn problem. In Chicago, the rate of reported shoplifting incidents remained below pre-pandemic levels throughout 2023 — but surged by 46% from January to October 2024 compared with the same period a year ago. Shoplifting in Los Angeles was 87% higher in 2023 than in 2019. Police reports of shoplifting from January to October 2024 were lower than in 2023. Los Angeles adopted a new crime reporting system in March 2024, which has likely led to an undercount, according to the report. In New York, shoplifting rose 48% from 2021 to 2022, then dipped slightly last year. Still, the shoplifting rate was 55% higher in 2023 than in 2019. This year, the shoplifting rate increased by 3% from January to September compared with the same period last year. While shoplifting rates tend to rise in November and December, which coincides with in-person holiday shopping, data from the Council on Criminal Justice’s sample of 23 U.S. cities shows higher rates in the first half of 2024 compared with 2023. Researchers found it surprising that rates went up despite retailers doing more to fight shoplifting. Experts say the spike might reflect improved reporting efforts rather than a spike in theft. “As retailers have been paying more attention to shoplifting, we would not expect the numbers to increase,” said Ernesto Lopez, the report’s author and a senior research specialist with the council. “It makes it a challenge to understand the trends of shoplifting.” In downtown Chicago on a recent early afternoon, potential shoppers shuffled through the streets and nearby malls, browsing for gifts ahead of the holidays. Edward Johnson, a guard at The Shops at North Bridge, said that malls have become quieter in the dozen or so years he has worked in mall security, with the rise of online retailers. As for shoplifters, Johnson said there isn’t a single type of person to look out for — they can come from any background. “I think good-hearted people see something they can’t afford and figure nothing is lost if they take something from the store,” Johnson said as he patrolled the mall, keeping an eye out for lost or suspicious items. Between 2018 and 2023, most shoplifting in Chicago was reported in the downtown area, as well as in the Old Town, River North and Lincoln Park neighborhoods, according to a separate by the Council on Criminal Justice. Newly sworn-in Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke this month lowered the threshold for charging retail theft as a felony in the county, which includes Chicago, from $1,000 to $300, aligning it with state law. “It sends a signal that she’s taking it seriously,” Rob Karr, the president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, told Stateline. Nationally, retailers are worried about organized theft. The National Retail Federation’s latest attributed 36% of the $112.1 billion in lost merchandise in 2022 to “external theft,” which includes organized retail crime. Organized retail crime typically involves coordinated efforts by groups to steal items with the intent to resell them for a profit. Commonly targeted goods include high-demand items such as baby formula, laundry detergent and electronics. The same report found that retailers’ fear of violence associated with theft also is on the rise, with more retailers taking a “hands-off approach.” More than 41% of respondents to the organization’s 2023 survey, up from 38% in 2022, reported that no employee is authorized to try and stop a shoplifter. (The federation’s reporting has come under criticism. It a claim last year that attributed nearly half of lost merchandise in 2021 to organized retail crime; such theft accounted for only about 5%. The group announced this fall it will no longer publish its reports on lost merchandise.) Policy experts say shoplifting and organized retail theft can significantly harm critical industries, drive up costs for consumers and reduce sales tax revenue for states. Those worries have driven recent state-level action to boost penalties for shoplifting. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom a package of 10 bills into law in August aimed at addressing retail theft. These measures make repeated theft convictions a felony, allow aggregation of crimes across multiple counties to be charged as a single felony, and permit police to arrest suspects for retail theft even if the crime wasn’t witnessed directly by an officer. In September, Newsom an additional bill that imposes steeper felony penalties for large-scale theft offenses. California voters also overwhelmingly a ballot measure in November that increases penalties for specific drug-related and theft crimes. Under the new law, people who are convicted of theft at least twice may face felony charges on their third offense, regardless of the stolen item’s value. “With these changes in the law, really it comes down to making sure that law enforcement is showing up to our stores in a timely manner, and that the prosecutors and the [district attorneys] are prosecuting,” Rachel Michelin, the president and CEO of the California Retailers Association, told Stateline. “That’s the only way we’re going to deter retail theft in our communities.” In New Jersey, a bipartisan making its way through the legislature would increase penalties for leading a shoplifting ring and allow extended sentences for repeat offenders. “This bill is going after a formally organized band of criminals that deliver such destruction to a critical business in our community. We have to act. We have to create a deterrence,” Democratic Assemblymember Joseph Danielsen, one of the bill’s prime sponsors, said in an interview with Stateline. The legislation would allow extended sentences for people convicted of shoplifting three times within 10 years or within 10 years of their release from prison, and would increase penalties to 10 to 20 years in prison for leading a retail crime ring. The bill also would allow law enforcement to aggregate the value of stolen goods over the course of a year to charge serial shoplifters with more serious offenses. Additionally, the bill would increase penalties for assaults committed against retail workers, and would require retailers to train employees on detecting gift card scams. Maryland legislators considered a similar during this year’s legislative session that would have defined organized retail theft and made it a felony. The bill didn’t make it out of committee, but Cailey Locklair, president of the Maryland Retailers Alliance, said the group plans to propose a bill during next year’s legislative session that would target gift card fraud. Better, more thorough reporting from retailers is essential to truly understanding shoplifting trends and its full impact, in part because some retail-related crimes, such as gift card fraud, are frequently underreported, according to Lopez, of the Council on Criminal Justice. Measuring crime across jurisdictions is , and the council does not track organized retail theft specifically because law enforcement typically doesn’t identify it as such at the time of arrest — if an arrest even occurs — requiring further investigation, Lopez said. The council’s latest report found conflicting trends in the FBI’s national crime reporting systems. The FBI’s older system, the Summary Reporting System, known as SRS, suggests that reported shoplifting hadn’t gone up through 2023, remaining on par with 2019 levels. In contrast, the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS, shows a 93% increase in shoplifting over the same period. The discrepancy may stem from the type of law enforcement agencies that have adopted the latter system, Lopez said. Some of those communities may have higher levels of shoplifting or other types of property crime, which could be what is driving the spike, Lopez said. Despite the discrepancies and varying levels of shoplifting across the country, Lopez said, it’s important for retailers to report these incidents, as doing so could help allocate law enforcement resources more effectively. “All law enforcement agencies have limited resources, and having the most accurate information allows for not just better policy, but also better implementation — better use of strategic resources,” Lopez said. ©2024 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Kenyon Giles scored 25 points as UNC Greensboro beat N.C. A&T 67-55 on Saturday. Giles had five rebounds for the Spartans (5-4). Donovan Atwell scored 15 points and added five rebounds. Jalen Breath shot 1 of 6 from the field and 8 for 8 from the line to finish with 10 points, while adding 10 rebounds. The Aggies (3-6) were led by Ryan Forrest, who posted 18 points and eight rebounds. Camian Shell added 15 points for N.C. A&T. Jahnathan Lamothe finished with 13 points and two steals. Atwell scored 11 points in the first half and UNC Greensboro went into the break trailing 36-35. Giles scored 15 points in the second half to help lead UNC Greensboro to a 12-point victory. NEXT UP UNC Greensboro's next game is Saturday against North Florida on the road, and N.C. A&T visits Virginia Tech on Thursday. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .USC QB Miller Moss enters transfer portal after losing starting job to Jayden Maiava
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