Organized Theft Groups and Organized Retail Crime

A comprehensive educational guide on organized retail crime for law enforcement and financial crime investigators.

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Summary

Organized retail crime (ORC) is a low-risk, high-reward business line for transnational criminal organizations’ portfolios that presents a significant financial and public safety risk. While retailers and law enforcement partner to investigate ORC cases and provide education on the misconceptions and misunderstandings, it is clear there is a missing link in these partnerships, and that link is financial institutions.

In this guide to organized retail crime prevention, produced in partnership with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), we define ORC and its evolving threat landscape, introduce the illicit financial flows tied to ORC and larger organized theft groups (OTGs), and examine case studies, red flags, and typologies. The paper also includes retail loss prevention strategies, guidance and reasonable steps to enhance your anti-financial crime (AFC) program, including your investigation effectiveness, suspicious activity reporting (SAR), and how to identify which information is highly useful to law enforcement.

About Our Partner

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. Visit Homeland Security Investigations for more information.

Key Themes

Reading this guide on organized retail crime will help law enforcement and anti-financial crime professionals to understand how to stop organized retail crime by defining:

  • What is organized retail crime
  • How to identify organized retail crime
  • Organized retail crime methods
  • The hierarchy and characteristics of organized theft groups
  • How ORC intersects with financial institutions
  • ORC red flags and typologies
  • ORC and OTG case studies
  • Suspicious activity reporting considerations
  • AML program considerations and enhancements

Intended Audience

This paper is intended for anyone working in law enforcement and financial crime prevention, including:

  • Financial crime and criminal investigators
  • Anti-money laundering (AML) crime officers
  • Retail and loss prevention investigators
  • E-commerce investigators
  • Transaction monitoring specialists
  • Compliance officers
  • Regulatory examiners
  • Law enforcement
  • Attorneys, prosecutors, and legal counsel

Industry Sectors

Industry sectors affected by the issues raised in this paper include:

  • Financial institutions, including FinTech and money services businesses (MSBs)
  • Law firms
  • Retail entities
  • Federal, state, and local law enforcement
  • Government
  • Online marketplaces and e-commerce

FAQs

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The insights from this whitepaper can be used to enhance your understanding and effectiveness in combating organized retail crime (ORC). By reading this guide, you will gain knowledge on the evolving threat landscape of ORC, the illicit financial flows tied to ORC and larger organized theft groups (OTGs), and various case studies, red flags, and typologies. Additionally, the guide provides retail loss prevention strategies and guidance on identifying information that is highly useful to law enforcement.

Organized retail crime (ORC) groups often target high-value, easily resalable goods. These include electronics, designer clothing, handbags, cosmetics, over-the-counter medications, baby formula, and other items that can be quickly sold for profit. The whitepaper provides detailed insights into the types of goods that are commonly targeted, helping you to better understand and anticipate the patterns of ORC activities.