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<body stylesrc="style.htm"> <p><img border="0" src="images/bbar8new.gif" width="282" height="48"></p> <p><img border="0" src="images/bbar8new.gif" width="282" height="48"></p> <p> <object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000" id="obj1" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" border="0" width="800" height="125"> <param name="movie" value="navbar2005.swf"> <param name="quality" value="High"> <embed src="navbar2005.swf" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="obj1" width="800" height="125"></object> </p> <p>CrimeBite has an on-going public relations campaign at the local, state, regional, and national level to inform the public of itself and its various services. The following articles on CrimeBite were taken from various newspapers and magazines. Please click on an article's title to go to that article's text.</p> <h2><a href="#Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:">Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:  <i>Finger "Signatures" -</i> <i>Stopping Credit Identity Theft</i></a></h2> <h2><strong><a href="#Southern Tastes">Shelby Report: <em>CrimeBite</em><em> System Nibbles Away at Check Forge, Fraud</em></a></strong></h2> <h2><b><a href="#Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995">Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995: <em>Forgers May Get Fingered</em></a></b></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Columbia News - April 17, 1996">Columbia News - April 17, 1996: <font size="5"><em><b>Blue Thumbprint Can Thwart Bogus Checks</b></em></font></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996"><font size="5">Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996:<em> Authentiprint May Finger Bad Checks</em></font></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Food People - December 1996"><font size="5">Food People - December 1996: <em>Fingerprints Help Retailers Serve Honest Customers</em></font></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Stores - January 1997">Stores - January 1997: <em>Supermarkets Try New Methods Against Growing Bad-Check Woes</em></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Times-Union"><font size="5">Times-Union: <em>Food Lion bagging bad checks with new fingerprinting system</em></font></a></h2> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:">Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:</a> </h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>Finger "Signatures": Stopping Credit Identity Theft</em></font><span style="font-size: 30.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Are bad checks and fraudulent credit card charges making a dent in your profit margin? One retail jewelry chain is fighting back...and winning!</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Carlyle & Company, a retail jewelry chain in the southeast, saved $600,000 in seven months by requesting "finger signatures" for purchases made by new customers who pay by check, credit card, or instant credit application.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.75pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">James Taylor, the corporate loss manager for Carlyle & Co., admits that store managers were skeptical when he announced the fingerprint program in 1998. Today, managers and store associates acknowledge that customers have accepted the precaution with virtually no fuss. And, it has greatly reduced losses due to credit identity thefts.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"> <o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <h2><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><font size="5"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">How</span></font></b><font size="5"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">it</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">works</b></span></font><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Finger signatures are requested only for new customers -- those not in the company's computer database. Thanks to the Authentiprint Identification System from Crime Bite, Ltd., the fingerprinting process is clean and easy.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">The store associate explains, "To protect you and the store, we ask new customers for a finger signature." The associate places a small white sticker on the check, credit card slip or credit application. The customer lightly touches a small activator pad and then the sticker. Instantly a blue fingerprint appears. Nothing remains on the customer's finger.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" src="images/jewele1.gif" width="300" height="276"></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Figure 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The customer touches the colorless activator pad...</i><o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" src="images/jewele2.gif" width="300" height="277"></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Figure 2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>... <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">then touches the sticker leaving </i>a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">blue fingerprint. No color is left on customer's finger</i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Store managers were concerned about charges of discrimination. Because the procedure applies to all new customers, discrimination isn't an issue. The company also trained all store associates about how to use the system and how to explain it to customers. Signs in the stores explain the precaution.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <h2><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><font size="5">A deterrent</font></span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Use of finger signatures has been a huge deterrent to this type of theft at Carlyle & Co. According to Mr. Taylor, a few thieves even leave the stolen credit cards on the countertop when they exit the store.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Of course, some thieves think they will get away with the theft. They provide their fingerprint when making a credit or check purchase. On those occasions, Carlyle & Co. has had great results working with the local police, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Secret Service. “The fingerprint positively links a suspect to this crime. When the FBI has become involved, they optically scan the fingerprint and compare it with their database,” Mr. Taylor explained. </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">“</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">If a suspect is arrested, law enforcement has physical evidence that ties the <span style="mso-bidi-font-style:italic">individual</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"> </i>to the loss at your store.”<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:1.0pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">While Mr. Taylor knows of no other jewelry business using the fingerprinting, Carlyle & Co. isn't alone in implementing this precaution. The banking industry, discount merchants, and food retailers are increasingly using fingerprinting to reduce credit identity thefts. "I love catching the bad guys, but the real benefit is deterring the crime in the first place," Mr. Taylor concludes.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <h2><font size="5"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">CrimeBite <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Authentiprint</b></span></font><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:1.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Fingerprinting, using the CrimeBite Authentiprint System, is easy, clean and inexpensive. For $25, you receive a box of 500 “chemical capture” sticker tabs and a colorless activator pad. The company also provides customer information flyers, signs for your store, and training information.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">CrimeBite President Lydia Del Rossi sounds like an evangelist when it comes to preventing identity theft. She says the beauty of the Authentiprint system is that it is extremely low tech. "There is no database, no software, no recording of the information. The only time you use the finger signature is when the check or credit card is fraudulent. That helps convince customers, too." she explains.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">While Ms. Del Rossi emphasizes that it's best use is as a deterrent, she boasts that the system has helped break a multi-state crime ring, send felons to prison, and tie thieves to specific crimes.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">In developing the system, CrimeBite attempted to reduce as many psychological barriers as possible. The training materials recommend the term "finger signature" instead of fingerprint. The process is free of any ink or residue; there is nothing to stain the skin or clothing. The company recommends using the index finger, rather than the thumb. The print is in bright “friendly” blue, instead of the more ominous black.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Ms. Del Rossi stresses the importance of a well-developed procedure and staff training to assure that the program is accepted by employees and customers.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Southern Tastes"><font size="5">Shelby Report</font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>CrimeBite System Nibbles Away at Check Forge, Fraud</em></font></h2> <p><font size="3">A simple yet highly effective crime deterrent is making the rounds of grocery stores, banks and other retail businesses. CrimeBite Ltd.'s Fraud Prevention System doesn't rely on complicated technology. In test markets in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia, merchants are finding that a simple thumbprint on the back of a check not only apprehends check-forgers but deters potential fraud.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Food Lion Inc., Salisbury N.C., found that check fraud was reduced by 30 percent in a 90-day test at 12 stores in Augusta, Ga. Those results prompted Food Lion to extend the test to its 41 stores in the Charlotte/Gastonia, N.C., marketing area. That group of stores found that their check fraud losses dropped 30 percent in the first 30 days. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Now, 161 Food Lion stores in Florida are utilizing the CrimeBite system. </font></p> <p><font size="3">The next installment for Food Lion is also expected to take place in North Carolina, in the Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem areas. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Winn-Dixie Jacksonville is also in the process of testing the system at select locations in Jacksonville and Tallahassee. Eric Padgett, Return Check Supervisor for the division, said that although it is too early for specific numbers on the success ratio of the program, "Based on what I've seen and heard from the location managers, it's going excellent. Not many customers are arguing about it,<b> </b>and lots of them are really getting into it and are saying, 'Hey, neat. It's for my safety.' We are also seeing the ones that are turning away and walking off. We consider them as potential losses which we have now turned into a potential gain because we haven't given out any groceries or given out any money. So we can see a difference."</font></p> <p><font size="3">Publix Super Markets of Lakeland, Fla., is testing the program at selected locations, and at least one other chain with stores in Florida is looking into putting the system to the test. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Developed in California in the 1 970s, the system uses an inkless chemical reaction to register the check writer's thumbprint on a sticker attached to the back of the check. After checking conventional identification, a chemically treated, pressure-sensitive CrimeBite sticker is removed from a dispenser containing a roll of 500 stickers. The Customers right thumb is then pressed gently to the activating thumb pad and then to the CrimeBite sticker, producing a sharp, clear, permanent print instantly.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Because the system requires an on-site, instant thumbprint, those with a criminal background will likely resist the urge to pass fraudulent checks or credit cards. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Dorenda Lockwood, office manager for Boardman Convenience Stores in Augusta, Ga., said since putting the system in place, the company's stores have "noticed a significant decrease in stolen and forged checks." Lockwood said the system is "easy to use and very customer-friendly." </font></p> <p><font size="3">CrimeBite personnel train the stores' managers and customer service representatives through meetings, hands-on interaction, role-playing, video support and manuals.</font></p> <p><font size="3">CrimeBite staff also meet with local and regional law enforcement personnel as well as the state attorney offices in each district. That way, a "net" is set up to find and prosecute forgers and frauds.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Lydia del Rossi, president of CrimeBite, based in Aiken, S.C., says the system has been well-received by law enforcement agencies, noting that police and sheriff departments were "delighted there was a method to both deter and catch criminals."</font></p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995"><font size="5"><b>Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995</b></font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><em><b>Forgers May Get Fingered</b></em></h2> <h2 align="center">by Brian Neill</h2> <p>Thousands of bad checks are passed to banks and merchants in Aiken County each year, clogging courtrooms and tying up investigators.</p> <p>But, while many check forgers are proficient in their phony John Hancocks, there is one signature they can't fake: Their fingerprints.</p> <p>A product called Authentiprint is being considered by local merchants and bar enforcement to deter forgers from passing bogus checks, and to catch them if they do.</p> <p>Authentiprint is an inkless fingerprinting system consisting of chemically treated pressure-sensitive stickers that are placed on the backs of cashed checks. There's no smudge, no mess, just a simple press of the thumb.</p> <p>Several states have already implemented inkless fingerprinting requirements with much success.</p> <p>The Bank of America, based in Nevada, reduced by 42 percent its losses to counterfeit checks since using the system, according to a newsletter of the International Association of Credit Card Investigators.</p> <p>Detective Larry Stewart has no trouble keeping busy with the forged check business in Aiken. </p> <p>The Aiken Department of Public Safety investigator said the stakes in check fraud have increased dramatically just in the past year and a half.</p> <p>"It used to be a $300 check forgery was a pretty hefty check forgery," Stewart said, "and now they're up in the thousands."</p> <p>Stewart said a clean print on the back of a check could save him hours of legwork and help increase the number of arrested check forgers.</p> <p>"I think it would be a benefit to everyone; it would definitely be a benefit to me," Stewart said. "It would save me a week or two of investigation just to run the fingerprint through the AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) system and come up with a name."</p> <p>Aiken County Sheriff Howard Sellers is also receptive to the idea.</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Columbia News - April 17, 1996">Columbia News - April 17, 1996</a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em><b>Blue Thumbprint Can Thwart Bogus Checks</b></em></font></h2> <h2 align="center"><b>by Bill Hermann, </b><font size="5">Staff Writer</font></h2> <p>Beware the blue thumbprint!</p> <p>That is the message beginning to circulate in the Central Savannah River Area to persons attempting to cash fraudulent or stolen checks. The system is so simple and foolproof it might easily be dismissed in this age of high-tech schemes. </p> <p>Evidence is beginning to mount that a system called "Authentiprint" can make a difference. In Grovetown a culprit was apprehended after passing a stolen check with his thumbprint at a local service station where the system is in place. According to Sergeant Carol Wolfe of the Forgery Unit of the Grovetown Department of Public Safety the system can be "a real deterrent," giving would be forgers ''second<b> </b>thoughts" before passing bogus checks. Sgt. Wolfe said of Authentiprint, "I hope it catches on" with many local merchants.</p> <p>All outlets, of Frank Wilson' s rentals are now using Authentiprint along with units of Koger-Walters Amoco according to Lydia del Rossi, the franchise holder for the system in Georgia, and South and North Carolina.</p> <p><i>First Union Test</i></p> <p>A test program is underway in Columbia, South Carolina by First Union Bank with the prospect of using it throughout their banking chain in the near future.</p> <p>Developed in California in the 1970's, Authentiprint uses an inkless chemical reaction to register the check writer's right thumbprint on a sticker attached to the back of a check or credit card for identification. There is no trace of ink on the user' s thumb, yet a bright blue print registers on the sticker and can be used by law enforcement officials to verify identity.</p> <p>Merchants in Aiken, S.C. have been using, the system for several months An article in the January 7 issue of The <i>Aiken Standard </i>said the Department of Public Safety there fully supported the system.</p> <p>Dorenda Lockwood, Office Manager of Boardman Convenience Stores, Inc., of Augusta put it this way in a letter to del Rossi: "Tylenol may be replacing aspirin as a headache remedy-but headaches remain. Especially collection headaches. After putting your Authentiprint system in place, we noticed a significant decrease in stolen and forged checks. As a direct result, our collection losses have been significantly reduced. We find the system easy to use and very customer friendly. </p> <p>"With nothing to lose but your 'headaches,' and the probable recovery of<b> </b>otherwise impossible checks, let <i>this </i>letter serve as a recommendation - to future Authentiprint prospects. "</p> <p>Last week, the dynamic Ms. del Rossi whose firm is known as "CrimeBite, Ltd." of Aiken, was featured speaker at the Belk Home office meeting of the Retail Loss Prevention Association of the Carolinas in Charlotte. On May 8 she is scheduled to address the Georgia Association of Professional Bondsmen at Callaway Gardens Resort in Pine Mountain, Georgia. Bob Raburn of Augusta is President of the Association.</p> <p>Merchants utilizing the Authentiprint system have red and white signs posted in their businesses. Many customers have praised the system, especially those who have been victimized by check thieves. It is estimated about 500 million checks are written for non-sufficient funds annually in the U.S.</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996"><font size="5">Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996</font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>Authentiprint May Finger Bad Checks</em></font></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5">by Michael W. Gibbons</font></h2> <p>Aiken merchants are discovering a new way to thwart attempts by criminals to pass forged or stolen checks or credit cards.</p> <p>With the advent of a new inkless fingerprinting system called Authentiprint, criminals attempting to pass bad checks or credit transactions will leave a crucial piece of evidence at the scene of the crime--a clear fingerprint, ready for police processing.</p> <p>The system, developed in California in the 1970s, has recently reached the Aiken area, thanks to Lydia del Rossi, owner of CrimeBite, Ltd.</p> <p>The system uses an inkless chemical reaction which registers the check writer's fingerprint on a sticker on the back of a check or credit card transaction.</p> <p>Initially, someone with a criminal mind win resist the urge to pass fraudulent checks or credit cards. Consequently, Authentiprint works effectively as a deterrent.</p> <p>However, if someone is brave enough to follow through with a bogus transaction, the criminal's fingerprint will be in plain sight for police to use.</p> <p>Nine businesses in the Aiken area already use Authentiprint, and Ms. del Rossi expects many more in the near future.</p> <p>Vicky Locklair, office manager of Aiken Drug, Co., Woodruff Drug Store and Lominick Pharmacy, said that most patrons, once the system is explained, are receptive to the idea.</p> <p>"Most of every comment was to the positive. They said, 'Well if this can protect me, then, yes, I want to do it.' Some of U em said it was the greatest thing they had ever seen," said Ms. Locklair.</p> <p>Detective Larry Stewart of the Aiken Department of Public Safety said that it would be advantageous for merchants and banks to acquire the system.</p> <p>"It's my advice to banks, merchants and everyone else to get it. It's a convenient, inexpensive way to protect against check fraud," said Stewart. </p> <p>Stewart said that a majority of his investigation time is spent dealing with check forgers. </p> <p>Stewart said that the Authentiprint system would reduce the number of forgers as well as the time needed to apprehend forgery suspects.</p> <p>Stewart also said that people who feel inconvenienced by the system should consider the alternative.</p> <p>"I've talked to some of the banks and merchants and the main negative feedback is they feel like it will be an inconvenience to the customers.</p> <p>"It may seem inconvenient to put an fingerprint on a check, (but) it doesn't compare in any way if someone gets some of your checks and cashes them.</p> <p>"It's a protection for everyone against someone using checks that belong to someone else," said Stewart.</p> <p>He also said the Aiken Department of Public Safety fully supported the Authentiprint Identification System. </p> <p>"We back it whole-heartedly as an aid to investigation as well as a deterrent."</p> <p>Ms. del Rossi expects future users that have the system installed will be "banks and business owners who are willing to take an active role in protecting their customers against fraud and stopping criminals from using their place of business as a target."</p> <p>She believes that the ease of the system and its effectiveness contribute to its popularity, "The system is very simplistic. That's the beauty of it," said Ms. del Rossi.</p> <p>According to Ms. del Rossi, the initial fear merchants may have of offending long-time customers will be quickly dismissed.</p> <p>Customers are notified by various Authentiprint signs throughout the business that all transactions must be processed through the Authentiprint system.</p> <p>Furthermore, the customers should understand that any attempt such as this is done to protect the customers from criminals. As a result, businesses can keep prices down and safety up.</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Food People - December 1996"><font size="5">Food People - December 1996</font></a></h2> <p align="center"><font size="5"><em>Fingerprints Help Retailers Serve Honest Customers</em></font></p> <p>Cashing the stranger's payroll or government check has become more risky, especially when you consider Americans write more than 60 billion checks a year. It's reported that some 500 million bogus checks are passed each year creating a $10 billion problem.</p> <p>One southeastern supermarket chain that dared to offer a check cashing service at its customer service center took a $30,000 hit from counterfeit in just four days. Such incidents are one reason that the supermarket industry has been hesitant to cash checks not written at checkout. </p> <p>At the same time, theres increasing pressure for supermarkets to do more than just sell groceries. More, service is the key for fostering greater shopper loyalty, and cashing payroll or government-issued checks is one of those services. </p> <p>Enter Lydia del Rossi, president of CrimeBite, Ltd. of Aiken, SC. A counterfeit ring had photocopied a check from a high profile company. </p> <p>Authorities were able to acquire positive identification of several participants in that scam. One had a criminal record stretching back 20 years. This was because inkless fingerprinting had become part of the stores check cashing policy.</p> <p>The prints on the bogus check were tracked through the Automatic Fingerprint Identification System used by law agencies. "Print Trak can take what to the visible eye appears to be a simple print and they can scan it into data bank of millions of criminal prints and make a match." Furthermore, when a cashed stolen or counterfeit check is taken to the local law enforcement agency, the computerized search can be successful in as little as seven minutes. </p> <p>A real help to deterring the passing of counterfeit or forged check is signage that proclaims, "For your protection we use CrimeBite Identification System. Your fingerprint is required on specific check to protect you against forgery of your signature." Honest customers appreciate knowing that should their check be stolen, retailers are doing their best to ensure that the thief hesitates to cash it. Furthermore, there is no residue left on the customers finger.</p> <p>Lydia noted that one Charlotte, NC, supermarket retailer reported a 40% decline in losses due to bogus chocks in the first 60<i> </i>days, with only four customer inquiries in the 42 stores. "No preventive measure is 100% sure, but even at 40% youre saving serious money. Furthermore, honest customers arc concerned about crime and they appreciate that the merchant is doing what he can about the problem."</p> <p>Del Rossi added that with an average of 7,000 shoppers per week in each of the 42 stores, four customer complaints regarding fingerprinting is miniscule. She notes that 90% of the check crime comes from 7% of the population.</p> <p>Thanks to fingerprinting, the grocery industry can focus on customer service because criminals don't willingly leave fingerprints at the scene of the crime. "Additionally, if they dare to test the system, then their identification and prosecution is swift because they leave behind that one irrefutable piece of identification: the fingerprint."</p> <p>A major hindrance to immediate apprehension is the culprit is ever on the move, making it difficult to intercept that person. Meanwhile, the AFIS system has the ability to store the suspect's print so when apprehended the thief can be prosecuted for all bad checks passed. Criminals hate to leave a trail behind, and will look for other ways to ply their trade.</p> <p>Del Rossi cites the time a burglar left a fingerprint on a house window. Fortunately, the person also was brazen enough to let the merchant take his fingerprint for the stolen check. "With prints on both the check and the window, he didn't have a leg to stand on."</p> <p>Apprehension, and prosecution is much more sure, thanks to technology. "Until now merchants had only card ID to go on. Yet, technology makes K easier and easier to forge a driver's license or other pictured identification When the fingerprint is on the back of a counterfeited check, frauds cant get out of prosecution."</p> <p>Lydia del Rossi concludes, "The merchant must be proactive. The dream is to get the retailer united with local, regional, state, and national law enforcement agencies to make robbery with the pen just as risky as robbery with a gun."</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Times-Union"><font size="5">Times-Union</font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>Food Lion bagging bad checks with new fingerprinting system</em></font></h2> <p align="center"><font size="5">by Simon Barker-Benfield</font></p> <p><font size="3">Food Lion Inc. has started fingerprinting customers who want to cash payroll checks at its Jacksonville supermarkets.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The move is aimed at professional bad check passers and makes use of a special inkless activator pad kept at the checkout counter.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The company pays particular attention to newly opened accounts and two-party payroll checks, said Kim Rogers, a Food Lion spokeswoman.</font></p> <p><font size="3">If the check turns out to be stolen or forged, it---and the fingerprint---get turned over to police, who can run the fingerprint through the Automatic Fingerprint Identification System, a federal database that matches up fingerprints of people who have broken the law before.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Food Lion said a 30-day test in Augusta, Ga., produced no customer complaints and a 30 percent decrease in dud checks.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. has no plans to introduce the system, said Bruce Baxter, a company spokesman.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Publix Super Markets is aware <i>of </i>the Food Lion program but also has no plans to test or introduce it, said Jennifer Bush, a company spokeswoman. </font></p> <p><font size="3">"But we are always looking at new technologies," Bush said.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Some banks, including First Union National<b> </b>Bank of Florida, have adopted the system.</font></p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Stores - January 1997">Stores - January 1997</a></h2> <h2 align="center"><em>Supermarkets Try New Methods Against Growing Bad-Check Woes</em></h2> <h2 align="center">by Patricia A. Murphy</h2> <p>[Patricia A. Murphy is a Takoma Park, Md.-based business writer who specializes in payments and technology.]</p> <p>As banks step up efforts to reduce over-the-counter check fraud losses, supermarkets, one of the more popular alternative outlets for<i> </i>consumers to cash checks, are seeing a dramatic rise in bad checks.</p> <p>Check fraud reduction "is basically a risk transference process," says Walter Heilner, vice president of Wells Fargo Bank, Phoenix. Increasingly, that risk is being transferred to supermarkets.</p> <p>Supermarket executives say they're being<b> </b>inundated with bad checks, most notably counterfeit payroll checks. According to the 1996 National Retail Security Survey issued by the University of Florida, supermarkets experienced 2,231.6 bad checks for every $100 million in sales last year, up from 1,774 in 1995, well above the average of 1,658 for all retail segments in l996.</p> <p>A survey last year by the Food Marketing Institute, meanwhile, found that the average net loss per grocery store from bad checks exceeded $l 3,000.</p> <p>Those numbers mask the significance of the problem to individual grocers, however. For example, one grocer with $1 billion in annual sales reportedly wrote off 0.28 percent of sales last year due to bad checks.</p> <p>Considering that most supermarkets operate on a 1 percent margin, that's a whopping share of profits lost to bad checks. The average company, according to Washington, D.C.-based FMI, reports losses in the range of 0.09 percent of gross sales.</p> <p>The problem is getting worse," notes Clayton Edwards, director of loss prevention for Food Lion, headquartered in Salisbury, N.C. "On of the reasons is that we [supermarkets] are one of the last places a person can go to and cash a payroll check. "</p> <p>With 1,100 stores spanning 14 states, Food Lion serves 10 million customers a week, who ring up nearly $9 billion in annual sales.</p> <p>In addition to cashing their payroll checks, consumers also are more prone to paying for groceries with checks than they are most other purchases. At Food Lion, Edwards estimates 65 percent of sales are paid for by check, about 25 percent are cash-back checks.</p> <p align="center"><font size="6"><strong>. . .</strong></font></p> <p align="left">Edwards agrees that information sharing is an important strategy in fighting check fraud, as are on-line check authorization services.</p> <p align="center"><font size="6"><strong>. . .</strong></font></p> <p>So Food Lion has begun piloting an inkless fingerprint program, which Edwards says already has demonstrated 30 percent to 40 percent reductions in bad checks, and even helped track down a gang of counterfeit check artists who have been plaguing East Coast merchants.</p> <p align="center"><font size="6"><strong>. . .</strong></font></p> <p>At a cost of about $5 each, merchants can equip checkout stands with inkless fingerprint pads, which customers are then asked to use in leaving a print on checks tendered. Most fraudulent operators presumably will want to avoid having their prints taken. Those who do leave a print, however, can be tracked down via the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), which connects most law enforcement databases of fingerprints nationwide. Even if a person's print is not on file, if a suspect is subsequently caught, the print on a check can easily be matched against a print taken from the suspect at the time of questioning.</p> <p>"It's a tremendous tool," says Edwards, adding that customer reaction has been generally favorable. The positive shopper response has been due to Food Lion's efforts to help them understand why the fingerprints were necessary, he suggest "We try to put it to them in terms of somebody raking money out of their pockets."</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <p> <object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000" id="obj1" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" border="0" width="800" height="125"> <param name="movie" value="navbar2005.swf"> <param name="quality" value="High"> <embed src="navbar2005.swf" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="obj1" width="800" height="125"></object> </p> <p> <object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000" id="obj1" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" border="0" width="800" height="125"> <param name="movie" value="navbar2005.swf"> <param name="quality" value="High"> <embed src="navbar2005.swf" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="obj1" width="800" height="125"></object> </p> <h5>Send mail to <a href="mailto:wedaniel@crimebite.com">wedaniel@crimebite.com</a> with questions or comments about this web site.<br> Copyright © 2000 CrimeBite™, Ltd. <br> Last modified: March 11, 2005 </h5> <p> </p> <p>CrimeBite has an on-going public relations campaign at the local, state, regional, and national level to inform the public of itself and its various services. The following articles on CrimeBite were taken from various newspapers and magazines. Please click on an article's title to go to that article's text.</p> <h2><a href="#Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:">Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:  <i>Finger "Signatures" -</i> <i>Stopping Credit Identity Theft</i></a></h2> <h2><strong><a href="#Southern Tastes">Shelby Report: <em>CrimeBite</em><em> System Nibbles Away at Check Forge, Fraud</em></a></strong></h2> <h2><b><a href="#Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995">Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995: <em>Forgers May Get Fingered</em></a></b></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Columbia News - April 17, 1996">Columbia News - April 17, 1996: <font size="5"><em><b>Blue Thumbprint Can Thwart Bogus Checks</b></em></font></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996"><font size="5">Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996:<em> Authentiprint May Finger Bad Checks</em></font></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Food People - December 1996"><font size="5">Food People - December 1996: <em>Fingerprints Help Retailers Serve Honest Customers</em></font></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Stores - January 1997">Stores - January 1997: <em>Supermarkets Try New Methods Against Growing Bad-Check Woes</em></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Times-Union"><font size="5">Times-Union: <em>Food Lion bagging bad checks with new fingerprinting system</em></font></a></h2> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:">Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:</a> </h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>Finger "Signatures": Stopping Credit Identity Theft</em></font><span style="font-size: 30.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Are bad checks and fraudulent credit card charges making a dent in your profit margin? One retail jewelry chain is fighting back...and winning!</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Carlyle & Company, a retail jewelry chain in the southeast, saved $600,000 in seven months by requesting "finger signatures" for purchases made by new customers who pay by check, credit card, or instant credit application.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.75pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">James Taylor, the corporate loss manager for Carlyle & Co., admits that store managers were skeptical when he announced the fingerprint program in 1998. Today, managers and store associates acknowledge that customers have accepted the precaution with virtually no fuss. And, it has greatly reduced losses due to credit identity thefts.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"> <o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <h2><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><font size="5"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">How</span></font></b><font size="5"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">it</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">works</b></span></font><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Finger signatures are requested only for new customers -- those not in the company's computer database. Thanks to the Authentiprint Identification System from Crime Bite, Ltd., the fingerprinting process is clean and easy.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">The store associate explains, "To protect you and the store, we ask new customers for a finger signature." The associate places a small white sticker on the check, credit card slip or credit application. The customer lightly touches a small activator pad and then the sticker. Instantly a blue fingerprint appears. Nothing remains on the customer's finger.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" src="images/jewele1.gif" width="300" height="276"></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Figure 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The customer touches the colorless activator pad...</i><o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" src="images/jewele2.gif" width="300" height="277"></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Figure 2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>... <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">then touches the sticker leaving </i>a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">blue fingerprint. No color is left on customer's finger</i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Store managers were concerned about charges of discrimination. Because the procedure applies to all new customers, discrimination isn't an issue. The company also trained all store associates about how to use the system and how to explain it to customers. Signs in the stores explain the precaution.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <h2><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><font size="5">A deterrent</font></span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Use of finger signatures has been a huge deterrent to this type of theft at Carlyle & Co. According to Mr. Taylor, a few thieves even leave the stolen credit cards on the countertop when they exit the store.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Of course, some thieves think they will get away with the theft. They provide their fingerprint when making a credit or check purchase. On those occasions, Carlyle & Co. has had great results working with the local police, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Secret Service. “The fingerprint positively links a suspect to this crime. When the FBI has become involved, they optically scan the fingerprint and compare it with their database,” Mr. Taylor explained. </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">“</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">If a suspect is arrested, law enforcement has physical evidence that ties the <span style="mso-bidi-font-style:italic">individual</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"> </i>to the loss at your store.”<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:1.0pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">While Mr. Taylor knows of no other jewelry business using the fingerprinting, Carlyle & Co. isn't alone in implementing this precaution. The banking industry, discount merchants, and food retailers are increasingly using fingerprinting to reduce credit identity thefts. "I love catching the bad guys, but the real benefit is deterring the crime in the first place," Mr. Taylor concludes.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <h2><font size="5"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">CrimeBite <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Authentiprint</b></span></font><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:1.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Fingerprinting, using the CrimeBite Authentiprint System, is easy, clean and inexpensive. For $25, you receive a box of 500 “chemical capture” sticker tabs and a colorless activator pad. The company also provides customer information flyers, signs for your store, and training information.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">CrimeBite President Lydia Del Rossi sounds like an evangelist when it comes to preventing identity theft. She says the beauty of the Authentiprint system is that it is extremely low tech. "There is no database, no software, no recording of the information. The only time you use the finger signature is when the check or credit card is fraudulent. That helps convince customers, too." she explains.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">While Ms. Del Rossi emphasizes that it's best use is as a deterrent, she boasts that the system has helped break a multi-state crime ring, send felons to prison, and tie thieves to specific crimes.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">In developing the system, CrimeBite attempted to reduce as many psychological barriers as possible. The training materials recommend the term "finger signature" instead of fingerprint. The process is free of any ink or residue; there is nothing to stain the skin or clothing. The company recommends using the index finger, rather than the thumb. The print is in bright “friendly” blue, instead of the more ominous black.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Ms. Del Rossi stresses the importance of a well-developed procedure and staff training to assure that the program is accepted by employees and customers.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Southern Tastes"><font size="5">Shelby Report</font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>CrimeBite System Nibbles Away at Check Forge, Fraud</em></font></h2> <p><font size="3">A simple yet highly effective crime deterrent is making the rounds of grocery stores, banks and other retail businesses. CrimeBite Ltd.'s Fraud Prevention System doesn't rely on complicated technology. In test markets in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia, merchants are finding that a simple thumbprint on the back of a check not only apprehends check-forgers but deters potential fraud.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Food Lion Inc., Salisbury N.C., found that check fraud was reduced by 30 percent in a 90-day test at 12 stores in Augusta, Ga. Those results prompted Food Lion to extend the test to its 41 stores in the Charlotte/Gastonia, N.C., marketing area. That group of stores found that their check fraud losses dropped 30 percent in the first 30 days. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Now, 161 Food Lion stores in Florida are utilizing the CrimeBite system. </font></p> <p><font size="3">The next installment for Food Lion is also expected to take place in North Carolina, in the Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem areas. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Winn-Dixie Jacksonville is also in the process of testing the system at select locations in Jacksonville and Tallahassee. Eric Padgett, Return Check Supervisor for the division, said that although it is too early for specific numbers on the success ratio of the program, "Based on what I've seen and heard from the location managers, it's going excellent. Not many customers are arguing about it,<b> </b>and lots of them are really getting into it and are saying, 'Hey, neat. It's for my safety.' We are also seeing the ones that are turning away and walking off. We consider them as potential losses which we have now turned into a potential gain because we haven't given out any groceries or given out any money. So we can see a difference."</font></p> <p><font size="3">Publix Super Markets of Lakeland, Fla., is testing the program at selected locations, and at least one other chain with stores in Florida is looking into putting the system to the test. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Developed in California in the 1 970s, the system uses an inkless chemical reaction to register the check writer's thumbprint on a sticker attached to the back of the check. After checking conventional identification, a chemically treated, pressure-sensitive CrimeBite sticker is removed from a dispenser containing a roll of 500 stickers. The Customers right thumb is then pressed gently to the activating thumb pad and then to the CrimeBite sticker, producing a sharp, clear, permanent print instantly.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Because the system requires an on-site, instant thumbprint, those with a criminal background will likely resist the urge to pass fraudulent checks or credit cards. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Dorenda Lockwood, office manager for Boardman Convenience Stores in Augusta, Ga., said since putting the system in place, the company's stores have "noticed a significant decrease in stolen and forged checks." Lockwood said the system is "easy to use and very customer-friendly." </font></p> <p><font size="3">CrimeBite personnel train the stores' managers and customer service representatives through meetings, hands-on interaction, role-playing, video support and manuals.</font></p> <p><font size="3">CrimeBite staff also meet with local and regional law enforcement personnel as well as the state attorney offices in each district. That way, a "net" is set up to find and prosecute forgers and frauds.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Lydia del Rossi, president of CrimeBite, based in Aiken, S.C., says the system has been well-received by law enforcement agencies, noting that police and sheriff departments were "delighted there was a method to both deter and catch criminals."</font></p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995"><font size="5"><b>Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995</b></font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><em><b>Forgers May Get Fingered</b></em></h2> <h2 align="center">by Brian Neill</h2> <p>Thousands of bad checks are passed to banks and merchants in Aiken County each year, clogging courtrooms and tying up investigators.</p> <p>But, while many check forgers are proficient in their phony John Hancocks, there is one signature they can't fake: Their fingerprints.</p> <p>A product called Authentiprint is being considered by local merchants and bar enforcement to deter forgers from passing bogus checks, and to catch them if they do.</p> <p>Authentiprint is an inkless fingerprinting system consisting of chemically treated pressure-sensitive stickers that are placed on the backs of cashed checks. There's no smudge, no mess, just a simple press of the thumb.</p> <p>Several states have already implemented inkless fingerprinting requirements with much success.</p> <p>The Bank of America, based in Nevada, reduced by 42 percent its losses to counterfeit checks since using the system, according to a newsletter of the International Association of Credit Card Investigators.</p> <p>Detective Larry Stewart has no trouble keeping busy with the forged check business in Aiken. </p> <p>The Aiken Department of Public Safety investigator said the stakes in check fraud have increased dramatically just in the past year and a half.</p> <p>"It used to be a $300 check forgery was a pretty hefty check forgery," Stewart said, "and now they're up in the thousands."</p> <p>Stewart said a clean print on the back of a check could save him hours of legwork and help increase the number of arrested check forgers.</p> <p>"I think it would be a benefit to everyone; it would definitely be a benefit to me," Stewart said. "It would save me a week or two of investigation just to run the fingerprint through the AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) system and come up with a name."</p> <p>Aiken County Sheriff Howard Sellers is also receptive to the idea.</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Columbia News - April 17, 1996">Columbia News - April 17, 1996</a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em><b>Blue Thumbprint Can Thwart Bogus Checks</b></em></font></h2> <h2 align="center"><b>by Bill Hermann, </b><font size="5">Staff Writer</font></h2> <p>Beware the blue thumbprint!</p> <p>That is the message beginning to circulate in the Central Savannah River Area to persons attempting to cash fraudulent or stolen checks. The system is so simple and foolproof it might easily be dismissed in this age of high-tech schemes. </p> <p>Evidence is beginning to mount that a system called "Authentiprint" can make a difference. In Grovetown a culprit was apprehended after passing a stolen check with his thumbprint at a local service station where the system is in place. According to Sergeant Carol Wolfe of the Forgery Unit of the Grovetown Department of Public Safety the system can be "a real deterrent," giving would be forgers ''second<b> </b>thoughts" before passing bogus checks. Sgt. Wolfe said of Authentiprint, "I hope it catches on" with many local merchants.</p> <p>All outlets, of Frank Wilson' s rentals are now using Authentiprint along with units of Koger-Walters Amoco according to Lydia del Rossi, the franchise holder for the system in Georgia, and South and North Carolina.</p> <p><i>First Union Test</i></p> <p>A test program is underway in Columbia, South Carolina by First Union Bank with the prospect of using it throughout their banking chain in the near future.</p> <p>Developed in California in the 1970's, Authentiprint uses an inkless chemical reaction to register the check writer's right thumbprint on a sticker attached to the back of a check or credit card for identification. There is no trace of ink on the user' s thumb, yet a bright blue print registers on the sticker and can be used by law enforcement officials to verify identity.</p> <p>Merchants in Aiken, S.C. have been using, the system for several months An article in the January 7 issue of The <i>Aiken Standard </i>said the Department of Public Safety there fully supported the system.</p> <p>Dorenda Lockwood, Office Manager of Boardman Convenience Stores, Inc., of Augusta put it this way in a letter to del Rossi: "Tylenol may be replacing aspirin as a headache remedy-but headaches remain. Especially collection headaches. After putting your Authentiprint system in place, we noticed a significant decrease in stolen and forged checks. As a direct result, our collection losses have been significantly reduced. We find the system easy to use and very customer friendly. </p> <p>"With nothing to lose but your 'headaches,' and the probable recovery of<b> </b>otherwise impossible checks, let <i>this </i>letter serve as a recommendation - to future Authentiprint prospects. "</p> <p>Last week, the dynamic Ms. del Rossi whose firm is known as "CrimeBite, Ltd." of Aiken, was featured speaker at the Belk Home office meeting of the Retail Loss Prevention Association of the Carolinas in Charlotte. On May 8 she is scheduled to address the Georgia Association of Professional Bondsmen at Callaway Gardens Resort in Pine Mountain, Georgia. Bob Raburn of Augusta is President of the Association.</p> <p>Merchants utilizing the Authentiprint system have red and white signs posted in their businesses. Many customers have praised the system, especially those who have been victimized by check thieves. It is estimated about 500 million checks are written for non-sufficient funds annually in the U.S.</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996"><font size="5">Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996</font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>Authentiprint May Finger Bad Checks</em></font></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5">by Michael W. Gibbons</font></h2> <p>Aiken merchants are discovering a new way to thwart attempts by criminals to pass forged or stolen checks or credit cards.</p> <p>With the advent of a new inkless fingerprinting system called Authentiprint, criminals attempting to pass bad checks or credit transactions will leave a crucial piece of evidence at the scene of the crime--a clear fingerprint, ready for police processing.</p> <p>The system, developed in California in the 1970s, has recently reached the Aiken area, thanks to Lydia del Rossi, owner of CrimeBite, Ltd.</p> <p>The system uses an inkless chemical reaction which registers the check writer's fingerprint on a sticker on the back of a check or credit card transaction.</p> <p>Initially, someone with a criminal mind win resist the urge to pass fraudulent checks or credit cards. Consequently, Authentiprint works effectively as a deterrent.</p> <p>However, if someone is brave enough to follow through with a bogus transaction, the criminal's fingerprint will be in plain sight for police to use.</p> <p>Nine businesses in the Aiken area already use Authentiprint, and Ms. del Rossi expects many more in the near future.</p> <p>Vicky Locklair, office manager of Aiken Drug, Co., Woodruff Drug Store and Lominick Pharmacy, said that most patrons, once the system is explained, are receptive to the idea.</p> <p>"Most of every comment was to the positive. They said, 'Well if this can protect me, then, yes, I want to do it.' Some of U em said it was the greatest thing they had ever seen," said Ms. Locklair.</p> <p>Detective Larry Stewart of the Aiken Department of Public Safety said that it would be advantageous for merchants and banks to acquire the system.</p> <p>"It's my advice to banks, merchants and everyone else to get it. It's a convenient, inexpensive way to protect against check fraud," said Stewart. </p> <p>Stewart said that a majority of his investigation time is spent dealing with check forgers. </p> <p>Stewart said that the Authentiprint system would reduce the number of forgers as well as the time needed to apprehend forgery suspects.</p> <p>Stewart also said that people who feel inconvenienced by the system should consider the alternative.</p> <p>"I've talked to some of the banks and merchants and the main negative feedback is they feel like it will be an inconvenience to the customers.</p> <p>"It may seem inconvenient to put an fingerprint on a check, (but) it doesn't compare in any way if someone gets some of your checks and cashes them.</p> <p>"It's a protection for everyone against someone using checks that belong to someone else," said Stewart.</p> <p>He also said the Aiken Department of Public Safety fully supported the Authentiprint Identification System. </p> <p>"We back it whole-heartedly as an aid to investigation as well as a deterrent."</p> <p>Ms. del Rossi expects future users that have the system installed will be "banks and business owners who are willing to take an active role in protecting their customers against fraud and stopping criminals from using their place of business as a target."</p> <p>She believes that the ease of the system and its effectiveness contribute to its popularity, "The system is very simplistic. That's the beauty of it," said Ms. del Rossi.</p> <p>According to Ms. del Rossi, the initial fear merchants may have of offending long-time customers will be quickly dismissed.</p> <p>Customers are notified by various Authentiprint signs throughout the business that all transactions must be processed through the Authentiprint system.</p> <p>Furthermore, the customers should understand that any attempt such as this is done to protect the customers from criminals. As a result, businesses can keep prices down and safety up.</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Food People - December 1996"><font size="5">Food People - December 1996</font></a></h2> <p align="center"><font size="5"><em>Fingerprints Help Retailers Serve Honest Customers</em></font></p> <p>Cashing the stranger's payroll or government check has become more risky, especially when you consider Americans write more than 60 billion checks a year. It's reported that some 500 million bogus checks are passed each year creating a $10 billion problem.</p> <p>One southeastern supermarket chain that dared to offer a check cashing service at its customer service center took a $30,000 hit from counterfeit in just four days. Such incidents are one reason that the supermarket industry has been hesitant to cash checks not written at checkout. </p> <p>At the same time, theres increasing pressure for supermarkets to do more than just sell groceries. More, service is the key for fostering greater shopper loyalty, and cashing payroll or government-issued checks is one of those services. </p> <p>Enter Lydia del Rossi, president of CrimeBite, Ltd. of Aiken, SC. A counterfeit ring had photocopied a check from a high profile company. </p> <p>Authorities were able to acquire positive identification of several participants in that scam. One had a criminal record stretching back 20 years. This was because inkless fingerprinting had become part of the stores check cashing policy.</p> <p>The prints on the bogus check were tracked through the Automatic Fingerprint Identification System used by law agencies. "Print Trak can take what to the visible eye appears to be a simple print and they can scan it into data bank of millions of criminal prints and make a match." Furthermore, when a cashed stolen or counterfeit check is taken to the local law enforcement agency, the computerized search can be successful in as little as seven minutes. </p> <p>A real help to deterring the passing of counterfeit or forged check is signage that proclaims, "For your protection we use CrimeBite Identification System. Your fingerprint is required on specific check to protect you against forgery of your signature." Honest customers appreciate knowing that should their check be stolen, retailers are doing their best to ensure that the thief hesitates to cash it. Furthermore, there is no residue left on the customers finger.</p> <p>Lydia noted that one Charlotte, NC, supermarket retailer reported a 40% decline in losses due to bogus chocks in the first 60<i> </i>days, with only four customer inquiries in the 42 stores. "No preventive measure is 100% sure, but even at 40% youre saving serious money. Furthermore, honest customers arc concerned about crime and they appreciate that the merchant is doing what he can about the problem."</p> <p>Del Rossi added that with an average of 7,000 shoppers per week in each of the 42 stores, four customer complaints regarding fingerprinting is miniscule. She notes that 90% of the check crime comes from 7% of the population.</p> <p>Thanks to fingerprinting, the grocery industry can focus on customer service because criminals don't willingly leave fingerprints at the scene of the crime. "Additionally, if they dare to test the system, then their identification and prosecution is swift because they leave behind that one irrefutable piece of identification: the fingerprint."</p> <p>A major hindrance to immediate apprehension is the culprit is ever on the move, making it difficult to intercept that person. Meanwhile, the AFIS system has the ability to store the suspect's print so when apprehended the thief can be prosecuted for all bad checks passed. Criminals hate to leave a trail behind, and will look for other ways to ply their trade.</p> <p>Del Rossi cites the time a burglar left a fingerprint on a house window. Fortunately, the person also was brazen enough to let the merchant take his fingerprint for the stolen check. "With prints on both the check and the window, he didn't have a leg to stand on."</p> <p>Apprehension, and prosecution is much more sure, thanks to technology. "Until now merchants had only card ID to go on. Yet, technology makes K easier and easier to forge a driver's license or other pictured identification When the fingerprint is on the back of a counterfeited check, frauds cant get out of prosecution."</p> <p>Lydia del Rossi concludes, "The merchant must be proactive. The dream is to get the retailer united with local, regional, state, and national law enforcement agencies to make robbery with the pen just as risky as robbery with a gun."</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Times-Union"><font size="5">Times-Union</font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>Food Lion bagging bad checks with new fingerprinting system</em></font></h2> <p align="center"><font size="5">by Simon Barker-Benfield</font></p> <p><font size="3">Food Lion Inc. has started fingerprinting customers who want to cash payroll checks at its Jacksonville supermarkets.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The move is aimed at professional bad check passers and makes use of a special inkless activator pad kept at the checkout counter.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The company pays particular attention to newly opened accounts and two-party payroll checks, said Kim Rogers, a Food Lion spokeswoman.</font></p> <p><font size="3">If the check turns out to be stolen or forged, it---and the fingerprint---get turned over to police, who can run the fingerprint through the Automatic Fingerprint Identification System, a federal database that matches up fingerprints of people who have broken the law before.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Food Lion said a 30-day test in Augusta, Ga., produced no customer complaints and a 30 percent decrease in dud checks.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. has no plans to introduce the system, said Bruce Baxter, a company spokesman.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Publix Super Markets is aware <i>of </i>the Food Lion program but also has no plans to test or introduce it, said Jennifer Bush, a company spokeswoman. </font></p> <p><font size="3">"But we are always looking at new technologies," Bush said.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Some banks, including First Union National<b> </b>Bank of Florida, have adopted the system.</font></p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Stores - January 1997">Stores - January 1997</a></h2> <h2 align="center"><em>Supermarkets Try New Methods Against Growing Bad-Check Woes</em></h2> <h2 align="center">by Patricia A. Murphy</h2> <p>[Patricia A. Murphy is a Takoma Park, Md.-based business writer who specializes in payments and technology.]</p> <p>As banks step up efforts to reduce over-the-counter check fraud losses, supermarkets, one of the more popular alternative outlets for<i> </i>consumers to cash checks, are seeing a dramatic rise in bad checks.</p> <p>Check fraud reduction "is basically a risk transference process," says Walter Heilner, vice president of Wells Fargo Bank, Phoenix. Increasingly, that risk is being transferred to supermarkets.</p> <p>Supermarket executives say they're being<b> </b>inundated with bad checks, most notably counterfeit payroll checks. According to the 1996 National Retail Security Survey issued by the University of Florida, supermarkets experienced 2,231.6 bad checks for every $100 million in sales last year, up from 1,774 in 1995, well above the average of 1,658 for all retail segments in l996.</p> <p>A survey last year by the Food Marketing Institute, meanwhile, found that the average net loss per grocery store from bad checks exceeded $l 3,000.</p> <p>Those numbers mask the significance of the problem to individual grocers, however. For example, one grocer with $1 billion in annual sales reportedly wrote off 0.28 percent of sales last year due to bad checks.</p> <p>Considering that most supermarkets operate on a 1 percent margin, that's a whopping share of profits lost to bad checks. The average company, according to Washington, D.C.-based FMI, reports losses in the range of 0.09 percent of gross sales.</p> <p>The problem is getting worse," notes Clayton Edwards, director of loss prevention for Food Lion, headquartered in Salisbury, N.C. "On of the reasons is that we [supermarkets] are one of the last places a person can go to and cash a payroll check. "</p> <p>With 1,100 stores spanning 14 states, Food Lion serves 10 million customers a week, who ring up nearly $9 billion in annual sales.</p> <p>In addition to cashing their payroll checks, consumers also are more prone to paying for groceries with checks than they are most other purchases. At Food Lion, Edwards estimates 65 percent of sales are paid for by check, about 25 percent are cash-back checks.</p> <p align="center"><font size="6"><strong>. . .</strong></font></p> <p align="left">Edwards agrees that information sharing is an important strategy in fighting check fraud, as are on-line check authorization services.</p> <p align="center"><font size="6"><strong>. . .</strong></font></p> <p>So Food Lion has begun piloting an inkless fingerprint program, which Edwards says already has demonstrated 30 percent to 40 percent reductions in bad checks, and even helped track down a gang of counterfeit check artists who have been plaguing East Coast merchants.</p> <p align="center"><font size="6"><strong>. . .</strong></font></p> <p>At a cost of about $5 each, merchants can equip checkout stands with inkless fingerprint pads, which customers are then asked to use in leaving a print on checks tendered. Most fraudulent operators presumably will want to avoid having their prints taken. Those who do leave a print, however, can be tracked down via the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), which connects most law enforcement databases of fingerprints nationwide. Even if a person's print is not on file, if a suspect is subsequently caught, the print on a check can easily be matched against a print taken from the suspect at the time of questioning.</p> <p>"It's a tremendous tool," says Edwards, adding that customer reaction has been generally favorable. The positive shopper response has been due to Food Lion's efforts to help them understand why the fingerprints were necessary, he suggest "We try to put it to them in terms of somebody raking money out of their pockets."</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <p><img border="0" src="images/bbar8new.gif" width="282" height="48"></p> <p> <object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000" id="obj1" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" border="0" width="800" height="125"> <param name="movie" value="navbar2005.swf"> <param name="quality" value="High"> <embed src="navbar2005.swf" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="obj1" width="800" height="125"></object> </p> <p>CrimeBite has an on-going public relations campaign at the local, state, regional, and national level to inform the public of itself and its various services. The following articles on CrimeBite were taken from various newspapers and magazines. Please click on an article's title to go to that article's text.</p> <h2><a href="#Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:">Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:  <i>Finger "Signatures" -</i> <i>Stopping Credit Identity Theft</i></a></h2> <h2><strong><a href="#Southern Tastes">Shelby Report: <em>CrimeBite</em><em> System Nibbles Away at Check Forge, Fraud</em></a></strong></h2> <h2><b><a href="#Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995">Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995: <em>Forgers May Get Fingered</em></a></b></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Columbia News - April 17, 1996">Columbia News - April 17, 1996: <font size="5"><em><b>Blue Thumbprint Can Thwart Bogus Checks</b></em></font></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996"><font size="5">Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996:<em> Authentiprint May Finger Bad Checks</em></font></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Food People - December 1996"><font size="5">Food People - December 1996: <em>Fingerprints Help Retailers Serve Honest Customers</em></font></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Stores - January 1997">Stores - January 1997: <em>Supermarkets Try New Methods Against Growing Bad-Check Woes</em></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Times-Union"><font size="5">Times-Union: <em>Food Lion bagging bad checks with new fingerprinting system</em></font></a></h2> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:">Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:</a> </h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>Finger "Signatures": Stopping Credit Identity Theft</em></font><span style="font-size: 30.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Are bad checks and fraudulent credit card charges making a dent in your profit margin? One retail jewelry chain is fighting back...and winning!</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Carlyle & Company, a retail jewelry chain in the southeast, saved $600,000 in seven months by requesting "finger signatures" for purchases made by new customers who pay by check, credit card, or instant credit application.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.75pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">James Taylor, the corporate loss manager for Carlyle & Co., admits that store managers were skeptical when he announced the fingerprint program in 1998. Today, managers and store associates acknowledge that customers have accepted the precaution with virtually no fuss. And, it has greatly reduced losses due to credit identity thefts.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"> <o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <h2><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><font size="5"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">How</span></font></b><font size="5"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">it</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">works</b></span></font><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Finger signatures are requested only for new customers -- those not in the company's computer database. Thanks to the Authentiprint Identification System from Crime Bite, Ltd., the fingerprinting process is clean and easy.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">The store associate explains, "To protect you and the store, we ask new customers for a finger signature." The associate places a small white sticker on the check, credit card slip or credit application. The customer lightly touches a small activator pad and then the sticker. Instantly a blue fingerprint appears. Nothing remains on the customer's finger.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" src="images/jewele1.gif" width="300" height="276"></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Figure 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The customer touches the colorless activator pad...</i><o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" src="images/jewele2.gif" width="300" height="277"></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Figure 2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>... <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">then touches the sticker leaving </i>a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">blue fingerprint. No color is left on customer's finger</i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Store managers were concerned about charges of discrimination. Because the procedure applies to all new customers, discrimination isn't an issue. The company also trained all store associates about how to use the system and how to explain it to customers. Signs in the stores explain the precaution.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <h2><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><font size="5">A deterrent</font></span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Use of finger signatures has been a huge deterrent to this type of theft at Carlyle & Co. According to Mr. Taylor, a few thieves even leave the stolen credit cards on the countertop when they exit the store.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Of course, some thieves think they will get away with the theft. They provide their fingerprint when making a credit or check purchase. On those occasions, Carlyle & Co. has had great results working with the local police, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Secret Service. “The fingerprint positively links a suspect to this crime. When the FBI has become involved, they optically scan the fingerprint and compare it with their database,” Mr. Taylor explained. </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">“</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">If a suspect is arrested, law enforcement has physical evidence that ties the <span style="mso-bidi-font-style:italic">individual</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"> </i>to the loss at your store.”<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:1.0pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">While Mr. Taylor knows of no other jewelry business using the fingerprinting, Carlyle & Co. isn't alone in implementing this precaution. The banking industry, discount merchants, and food retailers are increasingly using fingerprinting to reduce credit identity thefts. "I love catching the bad guys, but the real benefit is deterring the crime in the first place," Mr. Taylor concludes.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <h2><font size="5"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">CrimeBite <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Authentiprint</b></span></font><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:1.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Fingerprinting, using the CrimeBite Authentiprint System, is easy, clean and inexpensive. For $25, you receive a box of 500 “chemical capture” sticker tabs and a colorless activator pad. The company also provides customer information flyers, signs for your store, and training information.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">CrimeBite President Lydia Del Rossi sounds like an evangelist when it comes to preventing identity theft. She says the beauty of the Authentiprint system is that it is extremely low tech. "There is no database, no software, no recording of the information. The only time you use the finger signature is when the check or credit card is fraudulent. That helps convince customers, too." she explains.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">While Ms. Del Rossi emphasizes that it's best use is as a deterrent, she boasts that the system has helped break a multi-state crime ring, send felons to prison, and tie thieves to specific crimes.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">In developing the system, CrimeBite attempted to reduce as many psychological barriers as possible. The training materials recommend the term "finger signature" instead of fingerprint. The process is free of any ink or residue; there is nothing to stain the skin or clothing. The company recommends using the index finger, rather than the thumb. The print is in bright “friendly” blue, instead of the more ominous black.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Ms. Del Rossi stresses the importance of a well-developed procedure and staff training to assure that the program is accepted by employees and customers.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Southern Tastes"><font size="5">Shelby Report</font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>CrimeBite System Nibbles Away at Check Forge, Fraud</em></font></h2> <p><font size="3">A simple yet highly effective crime deterrent is making the rounds of grocery stores, banks and other retail businesses. CrimeBite Ltd.'s Fraud Prevention System doesn't rely on complicated technology. In test markets in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia, merchants are finding that a simple thumbprint on the back of a check not only apprehends check-forgers but deters potential fraud.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Food Lion Inc., Salisbury N.C., found that check fraud was reduced by 30 percent in a 90-day test at 12 stores in Augusta, Ga. Those results prompted Food Lion to extend the test to its 41 stores in the Charlotte/Gastonia, N.C., marketing area. That group of stores found that their check fraud losses dropped 30 percent in the first 30 days. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Now, 161 Food Lion stores in Florida are utilizing the CrimeBite system. </font></p> <p><font size="3">The next installment for Food Lion is also expected to take place in North Carolina, in the Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem areas. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Winn-Dixie Jacksonville is also in the process of testing the system at select locations in Jacksonville and Tallahassee. Eric Padgett, Return Check Supervisor for the division, said that although it is too early for specific numbers on the success ratio of the program, "Based on what I've seen and heard from the location managers, it's going excellent. Not many customers are arguing about it,<b> </b>and lots of them are really getting into it and are saying, 'Hey, neat. It's for my safety.' We are also seeing the ones that are turning away and walking off. We consider them as potential losses which we have now turned into a potential gain because we haven't given out any groceries or given out any money. So we can see a difference."</font></p> <p><font size="3">Publix Super Markets of Lakeland, Fla., is testing the program at selected locations, and at least one other chain with stores in Florida is looking into putting the system to the test. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Developed in California in the 1 970s, the system uses an inkless chemical reaction to register the check writer's thumbprint on a sticker attached to the back of the check. After checking conventional identification, a chemically treated, pressure-sensitive CrimeBite sticker is removed from a dispenser containing a roll of 500 stickers. The Customers right thumb is then pressed gently to the activating thumb pad and then to the CrimeBite sticker, producing a sharp, clear, permanent print instantly.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Because the system requires an on-site, instant thumbprint, those with a criminal background will likely resist the urge to pass fraudulent checks or credit cards. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Dorenda Lockwood, office manager for Boardman Convenience Stores in Augusta, Ga., said since putting the system in place, the company's stores have "noticed a significant decrease in stolen and forged checks." Lockwood said the system is "easy to use and very customer-friendly." </font></p> <p><font size="3">CrimeBite personnel train the stores' managers and customer service representatives through meetings, hands-on interaction, role-playing, video support and manuals.</font></p> <p><font size="3">CrimeBite staff also meet with local and regional law enforcement personnel as well as the state attorney offices in each district. That way, a "net" is set up to find and prosecute forgers and frauds.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Lydia del Rossi, president of CrimeBite, based in Aiken, S.C., says the system has been well-received by law enforcement agencies, noting that police and sheriff departments were "delighted there was a method to both deter and catch criminals."</font></p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995"><font size="5"><b>Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995</b></font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><em><b>Forgers May Get Fingered</b></em></h2> <h2 align="center">by Brian Neill</h2> <p>Thousands of bad checks are passed to banks and merchants in Aiken County each year, clogging courtrooms and tying up investigators.</p> <p>But, while many check forgers are proficient in their phony John Hancocks, there is one signature they can't fake: Their fingerprints.</p> <p>A product called Authentiprint is being considered by local merchants and bar enforcement to deter forgers from passing bogus checks, and to catch them if they do.</p> <p>Authentiprint is an inkless fingerprinting system consisting of chemically treated pressure-sensitive stickers that are placed on the backs of cashed checks. There's no smudge, no mess, just a simple press of the thumb.</p> <p>Several states have already implemented inkless fingerprinting requirements with much success.</p> <p>The Bank of America, based in Nevada, reduced by 42 percent its losses to counterfeit checks since using the system, according to a newsletter of the International Association of Credit Card Investigators.</p> <p>Detective Larry Stewart has no trouble keeping busy with the forged check business in Aiken. </p> <p>The Aiken Department of Public Safety investigator said the stakes in check fraud have increased dramatically just in the past year and a half.</p> <p>"It used to be a $300 check forgery was a pretty hefty check forgery," Stewart said, "and now they're up in the thousands."</p> <p>Stewart said a clean print on the back of a check could save him hours of legwork and help increase the number of arrested check forgers.</p> <p>"I think it would be a benefit to everyone; it would definitely be a benefit to me," Stewart said. "It would save me a week or two of investigation just to run the fingerprint through the AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) system and come up with a name."</p> <p>Aiken County Sheriff Howard Sellers is also receptive to the idea.</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Columbia News - April 17, 1996">Columbia News - April 17, 1996</a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em><b>Blue Thumbprint Can Thwart Bogus Checks</b></em></font></h2> <h2 align="center"><b>by Bill Hermann, </b><font size="5">Staff Writer</font></h2> <p>Beware the blue thumbprint!</p> <p>That is the message beginning to circulate in the Central Savannah River Area to persons attempting to cash fraudulent or stolen checks. The system is so simple and foolproof it might easily be dismissed in this age of high-tech schemes. </p> <p>Evidence is beginning to mount that a system called "Authentiprint" can make a difference. In Grovetown a culprit was apprehended after passing a stolen check with his thumbprint at a local service station where the system is in place. According to Sergeant Carol Wolfe of the Forgery Unit of the Grovetown Department of Public Safety the system can be "a real deterrent," giving would be forgers ''second<b> </b>thoughts" before passing bogus checks. Sgt. Wolfe said of Authentiprint, "I hope it catches on" with many local merchants.</p> <p>All outlets, of Frank Wilson' s rentals are now using Authentiprint along with units of Koger-Walters Amoco according to Lydia del Rossi, the franchise holder for the system in Georgia, and South and North Carolina.</p> <p><i>First Union Test</i></p> <p>A test program is underway in Columbia, South Carolina by First Union Bank with the prospect of using it throughout their banking chain in the near future.</p> <p>Developed in California in the 1970's, Authentiprint uses an inkless chemical reaction to register the check writer's right thumbprint on a sticker attached to the back of a check or credit card for identification. There is no trace of ink on the user' s thumb, yet a bright blue print registers on the sticker and can be used by law enforcement officials to verify identity.</p> <p>Merchants in Aiken, S.C. have been using, the system for several months An article in the January 7 issue of The <i>Aiken Standard </i>said the Department of Public Safety there fully supported the system.</p> <p>Dorenda Lockwood, Office Manager of Boardman Convenience Stores, Inc., of Augusta put it this way in a letter to del Rossi: "Tylenol may be replacing aspirin as a headache remedy-but headaches remain. Especially collection headaches. After putting your Authentiprint system in place, we noticed a significant decrease in stolen and forged checks. As a direct result, our collection losses have been significantly reduced. We find the system easy to use and very customer friendly. </p> <p>"With nothing to lose but your 'headaches,' and the probable recovery of<b> </b>otherwise impossible checks, let <i>this </i>letter serve as a recommendation - to future Authentiprint prospects. "</p> <p>Last week, the dynamic Ms. del Rossi whose firm is known as "CrimeBite, Ltd." of Aiken, was featured speaker at the Belk Home office meeting of the Retail Loss Prevention Association of the Carolinas in Charlotte. On May 8 she is scheduled to address the Georgia Association of Professional Bondsmen at Callaway Gardens Resort in Pine Mountain, Georgia. Bob Raburn of Augusta is President of the Association.</p> <p>Merchants utilizing the Authentiprint system have red and white signs posted in their businesses. Many customers have praised the system, especially those who have been victimized by check thieves. It is estimated about 500 million checks are written for non-sufficient funds annually in the U.S.</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996"><font size="5">Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996</font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>Authentiprint May Finger Bad Checks</em></font></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5">by Michael W. Gibbons</font></h2> <p>Aiken merchants are discovering a new way to thwart attempts by criminals to pass forged or stolen checks or credit cards.</p> <p>With the advent of a new inkless fingerprinting system called Authentiprint, criminals attempting to pass bad checks or credit transactions will leave a crucial piece of evidence at the scene of the crime--a clear fingerprint, ready for police processing.</p> <p>The system, developed in California in the 1970s, has recently reached the Aiken area, thanks to Lydia del Rossi, owner of CrimeBite, Ltd.</p> <p>The system uses an inkless chemical reaction which registers the check writer's fingerprint on a sticker on the back of a check or credit card transaction.</p> <p>Initially, someone with a criminal mind win resist the urge to pass fraudulent checks or credit cards. Consequently, Authentiprint works effectively as a deterrent.</p> <p>However, if someone is brave enough to follow through with a bogus transaction, the criminal's fingerprint will be in plain sight for police to use.</p> <p>Nine businesses in the Aiken area already use Authentiprint, and Ms. del Rossi expects many more in the near future.</p> <p>Vicky Locklair, office manager of Aiken Drug, Co., Woodruff Drug Store and Lominick Pharmacy, said that most patrons, once the system is explained, are receptive to the idea.</p> <p>"Most of every comment was to the positive. They said, 'Well if this can protect me, then, yes, I want to do it.' Some of U em said it was the greatest thing they had ever seen," said Ms. Locklair.</p> <p>Detective Larry Stewart of the Aiken Department of Public Safety said that it would be advantageous for merchants and banks to acquire the system.</p> <p>"It's my advice to banks, merchants and everyone else to get it. It's a convenient, inexpensive way to protect against check fraud," said Stewart. </p> <p>Stewart said that a majority of his investigation time is spent dealing with check forgers. </p> <p>Stewart said that the Authentiprint system would reduce the number of forgers as well as the time needed to apprehend forgery suspects.</p> <p>Stewart also said that people who feel inconvenienced by the system should consider the alternative.</p> <p>"I've talked to some of the banks and merchants and the main negative feedback is they feel like it will be an inconvenience to the customers.</p> <p>"It may seem inconvenient to put an fingerprint on a check, (but) it doesn't compare in any way if someone gets some of your checks and cashes them.</p> <p>"It's a protection for everyone against someone using checks that belong to someone else," said Stewart.</p> <p>He also said the Aiken Department of Public Safety fully supported the Authentiprint Identification System. </p> <p>"We back it whole-heartedly as an aid to investigation as well as a deterrent."</p> <p>Ms. del Rossi expects future users that have the system installed will be "banks and business owners who are willing to take an active role in protecting their customers against fraud and stopping criminals from using their place of business as a target."</p> <p>She believes that the ease of the system and its effectiveness contribute to its popularity, "The system is very simplistic. That's the beauty of it," said Ms. del Rossi.</p> <p>According to Ms. del Rossi, the initial fear merchants may have of offending long-time customers will be quickly dismissed.</p> <p>Customers are notified by various Authentiprint signs throughout the business that all transactions must be processed through the Authentiprint system.</p> <p>Furthermore, the customers should understand that any attempt such as this is done to protect the customers from criminals. As a result, businesses can keep prices down and safety up.</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Food People - December 1996"><font size="5">Food People - December 1996</font></a></h2> <p align="center"><font size="5"><em>Fingerprints Help Retailers Serve Honest Customers</em></font></p> <p>Cashing the stranger's payroll or government check has become more risky, especially when you consider Americans write more than 60 billion checks a year. It's reported that some 500 million bogus checks are passed each year creating a $10 billion problem.</p> <p>One southeastern supermarket chain that dared to offer a check cashing service at its customer service center took a $30,000 hit from counterfeit in just four days. Such incidents are one reason that the supermarket industry has been hesitant to cash checks not written at checkout. </p> <p>At the same time, theres increasing pressure for supermarkets to do more than just sell groceries. More, service is the key for fostering greater shopper loyalty, and cashing payroll or government-issued checks is one of those services. </p> <p>Enter Lydia del Rossi, president of CrimeBite, Ltd. of Aiken, SC. A counterfeit ring had photocopied a check from a high profile company. </p> <p>Authorities were able to acquire positive identification of several participants in that scam. One had a criminal record stretching back 20 years. This was because inkless fingerprinting had become part of the stores check cashing policy.</p> <p>The prints on the bogus check were tracked through the Automatic Fingerprint Identification System used by law agencies. "Print Trak can take what to the visible eye appears to be a simple print and they can scan it into data bank of millions of criminal prints and make a match." Furthermore, when a cashed stolen or counterfeit check is taken to the local law enforcement agency, the computerized search can be successful in as little as seven minutes. </p> <p>A real help to deterring the passing of counterfeit or forged check is signage that proclaims, "For your protection we use CrimeBite Identification System. Your fingerprint is required on specific check to protect you against forgery of your signature." Honest customers appreciate knowing that should their check be stolen, retailers are doing their best to ensure that the thief hesitates to cash it. Furthermore, there is no residue left on the customers finger.</p> <p>Lydia noted that one Charlotte, NC, supermarket retailer reported a 40% decline in losses due to bogus chocks in the first 60<i> </i>days, with only four customer inquiries in the 42 stores. "No preventive measure is 100% sure, but even at 40% youre saving serious money. Furthermore, honest customers arc concerned about crime and they appreciate that the merchant is doing what he can about the problem."</p> <p>Del Rossi added that with an average of 7,000 shoppers per week in each of the 42 stores, four customer complaints regarding fingerprinting is miniscule. She notes that 90% of the check crime comes from 7% of the population.</p> <p>Thanks to fingerprinting, the grocery industry can focus on customer service because criminals don't willingly leave fingerprints at the scene of the crime. "Additionally, if they dare to test the system, then their identification and prosecution is swift because they leave behind that one irrefutable piece of identification: the fingerprint."</p> <p>A major hindrance to immediate apprehension is the culprit is ever on the move, making it difficult to intercept that person. Meanwhile, the AFIS system has the ability to store the suspect's print so when apprehended the thief can be prosecuted for all bad checks passed. Criminals hate to leave a trail behind, and will look for other ways to ply their trade.</p> <p>Del Rossi cites the time a burglar left a fingerprint on a house window. Fortunately, the person also was brazen enough to let the merchant take his fingerprint for the stolen check. "With prints on both the check and the window, he didn't have a leg to stand on."</p> <p>Apprehension, and prosecution is much more sure, thanks to technology. "Until now merchants had only card ID to go on. Yet, technology makes K easier and easier to forge a driver's license or other pictured identification When the fingerprint is on the back of a counterfeited check, frauds cant get out of prosecution."</p> <p>Lydia del Rossi concludes, "The merchant must be proactive. The dream is to get the retailer united with local, regional, state, and national law enforcement agencies to make robbery with the pen just as risky as robbery with a gun."</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Times-Union"><font size="5">Times-Union</font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>Food Lion bagging bad checks with new fingerprinting system</em></font></h2> <p align="center"><font size="5">by Simon Barker-Benfield</font></p> <p><font size="3">Food Lion Inc. has started fingerprinting customers who want to cash payroll checks at its Jacksonville supermarkets.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The move is aimed at professional bad check passers and makes use of a special inkless activator pad kept at the checkout counter.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The company pays particular attention to newly opened accounts and two-party payroll checks, said Kim Rogers, a Food Lion spokeswoman.</font></p> <p><font size="3">If the check turns out to be stolen or forged, it---and the fingerprint---get turned over to police, who can run the fingerprint through the Automatic Fingerprint Identification System, a federal database that matches up fingerprints of people who have broken the law before.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Food Lion said a 30-day test in Augusta, Ga., produced no customer complaints and a 30 percent decrease in dud checks.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. has no plans to introduce the system, said Bruce Baxter, a company spokesman.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Publix Super Markets is aware <i>of </i>the Food Lion program but also has no plans to test or introduce it, said Jennifer Bush, a company spokeswoman. </font></p> <p><font size="3">"But we are always looking at new technologies," Bush said.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Some banks, including First Union National<b> </b>Bank of Florida, have adopted the system.</font></p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Stores - January 1997">Stores - January 1997</a></h2> <h2 align="center"><em>Supermarkets Try New Methods Against Growing Bad-Check Woes</em></h2> <h2 align="center">by Patricia A. Murphy</h2> <p>[Patricia A. Murphy is a Takoma Park, Md.-based business writer who specializes in payments and technology.]</p> <p>As banks step up efforts to reduce over-the-counter check fraud losses, supermarkets, one of the more popular alternative outlets for<i> </i>consumers to cash checks, are seeing a dramatic rise in bad checks.</p> <p>Check fraud reduction "is basically a risk transference process," says Walter Heilner, vice president of Wells Fargo Bank, Phoenix. Increasingly, that risk is being transferred to supermarkets.</p> <p>Supermarket executives say they're being<b> </b>inundated with bad checks, most notably counterfeit payroll checks. According to the 1996 National Retail Security Survey issued by the University of Florida, supermarkets experienced 2,231.6 bad checks for every $100 million in sales last year, up from 1,774 in 1995, well above the average of 1,658 for all retail segments in l996.</p> <p>A survey last year by the Food Marketing Institute, meanwhile, found that the average net loss per grocery store from bad checks exceeded $l 3,000.</p> <p>Those numbers mask the significance of the problem to individual grocers, however. For example, one grocer with $1 billion in annual sales reportedly wrote off 0.28 percent of sales last year due to bad checks.</p> <p>Considering that most supermarkets operate on a 1 percent margin, that's a whopping share of profits lost to bad checks. The average company, according to Washington, D.C.-based FMI, reports losses in the range of 0.09 percent of gross sales.</p> <p>The problem is getting worse," notes Clayton Edwards, director of loss prevention for Food Lion, headquartered in Salisbury, N.C. "On of the reasons is that we [supermarkets] are one of the last places a person can go to and cash a payroll check. "</p> <p>With 1,100 stores spanning 14 states, Food Lion serves 10 million customers a week, who ring up nearly $9 billion in annual sales.</p> <p>In addition to cashing their payroll checks, consumers also are more prone to paying for groceries with checks than they are most other purchases. At Food Lion, Edwards estimates 65 percent of sales are paid for by check, about 25 percent are cash-back checks.</p> <p align="center"><font size="6"><strong>. . .</strong></font></p> <p align="left">Edwards agrees that information sharing is an important strategy in fighting check fraud, as are on-line check authorization services.</p> <p align="center"><font size="6"><strong>. . .</strong></font></p> <p>So Food Lion has begun piloting an inkless fingerprint program, which Edwards says already has demonstrated 30 percent to 40 percent reductions in bad checks, and even helped track down a gang of counterfeit check artists who have been plaguing East Coast merchants.</p> <p align="center"><font size="6"><strong>. . .</strong></font></p> <p>At a cost of about $5 each, merchants can equip checkout stands with inkless fingerprint pads, which customers are then asked to use in leaving a print on checks tendered. Most fraudulent operators presumably will want to avoid having their prints taken. Those who do leave a print, however, can be tracked down via the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), which connects most law enforcement databases of fingerprints nationwide. Even if a person's print is not on file, if a suspect is subsequently caught, the print on a check can easily be matched against a print taken from the suspect at the time of questioning.</p> <p>"It's a tremendous tool," says Edwards, adding that customer reaction has been generally favorable. The positive shopper response has been due to Food Lion's efforts to help them understand why the fingerprints were necessary, he suggest "We try to put it to them in terms of somebody raking money out of their pockets."</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <p> <object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000" id="obj1" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" border="0" width="800" height="125"> <param name="movie" value="navbar2005.swf"> <param name="quality" value="High"> <embed src="navbar2005.swf" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="obj1" width="800" height="125"></object> </p> <p> <object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000" id="obj1" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" border="0" width="800" height="125"> <param name="movie" value="navbar2005.swf"> <param name="quality" value="High"> <embed src="navbar2005.swf" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="obj1" width="800" height="125"></object> </p> <h5>Send mail to <a href="mailto:wedaniel@crimebite.com">wedaniel@crimebite.com</a> with questions or comments about this web site.<br> Copyright © 2000 CrimeBite™, Ltd. <br> Last modified: March 11, 2005 </h5> <p> </p> <p><img border="0" src="images/bbar8new.gif" width="282" height="48"></p> <p><strong><font size="5"><sup><sup>Visitors since 4/16/98:</sup></sup><img src="_vti_bin/fpcount.exe/crimebite2005/?Page=navbar.htm|Custom=counter.gif|Digits=5" alt="Hit Counter"></font></strong></p> <p>CrimeBite has an on-going public relations campaign at the local, state, regional, and national level to inform the public of itself and its various services. The following articles on CrimeBite were taken from various newspapers and magazines. Please click on an article's title to go to that article's text.</p> <h2><a href="#Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:">Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:  <i>Finger "Signatures" -</i> <i>Stopping Credit Identity Theft</i></a></h2> <h2><strong><a href="#Southern Tastes">Shelby Report: <em>CrimeBite</em><em> System Nibbles Away at Check Forge, Fraud</em></a></strong></h2> <h2><b><a href="#Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995">Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995: <em>Forgers May Get Fingered</em></a></b></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Columbia News - April 17, 1996">Columbia News - April 17, 1996: <font size="5"><em><b>Blue Thumbprint Can Thwart Bogus Checks</b></em></font></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996"><font size="5">Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996:<em> Authentiprint May Finger Bad Checks</em></font></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Food People - December 1996"><font size="5">Food People - December 1996: <em>Fingerprints Help Retailers Serve Honest Customers</em></font></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Stores - January 1997">Stores - January 1997: <em>Supermarkets Try New Methods Against Growing Bad-Check Woes</em></a></h2> <h2 align="left"><a href="#Times-Union"><font size="5">Times-Union: <em>Food Lion bagging bad checks with new fingerprinting system</em></font></a></h2> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:">Jeweler's Magazine, March 2000:</a> </h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>Finger "Signatures": Stopping Credit Identity Theft</em></font><span style="font-size: 30.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Are bad checks and fraudulent credit card charges making a dent in your profit margin? One retail jewelry chain is fighting back...and winning!</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Carlyle & Company, a retail jewelry chain in the southeast, saved $600,000 in seven months by requesting "finger signatures" for purchases made by new customers who pay by check, credit card, or instant credit application.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.75pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">James Taylor, the corporate loss manager for Carlyle & Co., admits that store managers were skeptical when he announced the fingerprint program in 1998. Today, managers and store associates acknowledge that customers have accepted the precaution with virtually no fuss. And, it has greatly reduced losses due to credit identity thefts.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"> <o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <h2><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><font size="5"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">How</span></font></b><font size="5"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">it</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">works</b></span></font><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Finger signatures are requested only for new customers -- those not in the company's computer database. Thanks to the Authentiprint Identification System from Crime Bite, Ltd., the fingerprinting process is clean and easy.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">The store associate explains, "To protect you and the store, we ask new customers for a finger signature." The associate places a small white sticker on the check, credit card slip or credit application. The customer lightly touches a small activator pad and then the sticker. Instantly a blue fingerprint appears. Nothing remains on the customer's finger.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" src="images/jewele1.gif" width="300" height="276"></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Figure 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The customer touches the colorless activator pad...</i><o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" src="images/jewele2.gif" width="300" height="277"></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Figure 2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>... <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">then touches the sticker leaving </i>a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">blue fingerprint. No color is left on customer's finger</i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Store managers were concerned about charges of discrimination. Because the procedure applies to all new customers, discrimination isn't an issue. The company also trained all store associates about how to use the system and how to explain it to customers. Signs in the stores explain the precaution.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <h2><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><font size="5">A deterrent</font></span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Use of finger signatures has been a huge deterrent to this type of theft at Carlyle & Co. According to Mr. Taylor, a few thieves even leave the stolen credit cards on the countertop when they exit the store.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Of course, some thieves think they will get away with the theft. They provide their fingerprint when making a credit or check purchase. On those occasions, Carlyle & Co. has had great results working with the local police, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Secret Service. “The fingerprint positively links a suspect to this crime. When the FBI has become involved, they optically scan the fingerprint and compare it with their database,” Mr. Taylor explained. </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">“</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">If a suspect is arrested, law enforcement has physical evidence that ties the <span style="mso-bidi-font-style:italic">individual</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"> </i>to the loss at your store.”<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:1.0pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">While Mr. Taylor knows of no other jewelry business using the fingerprinting, Carlyle & Co. isn't alone in implementing this precaution. The banking industry, discount merchants, and food retailers are increasingly using fingerprinting to reduce credit identity thefts. "I love catching the bad guys, but the real benefit is deterring the crime in the first place," Mr. Taylor concludes.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <h2><font size="5"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">CrimeBite <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Authentiprint</b></span></font><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:1.25pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Fingerprinting, using the CrimeBite Authentiprint System, is easy, clean and inexpensive. For $25, you receive a box of 500 “chemical capture” sticker tabs and a colorless activator pad. The company also provides customer information flyers, signs for your store, and training information.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">CrimeBite President Lydia Del Rossi sounds like an evangelist when it comes to preventing identity theft. She says the beauty of the Authentiprint system is that it is extremely low tech. "There is no database, no software, no recording of the information. The only time you use the finger signature is when the check or credit card is fraudulent. That helps convince customers, too." she explains.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5pt"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">While Ms. Del Rossi emphasizes that it's best use is as a deterrent, she boasts that the system has helped break a multi-state crime ring, send felons to prison, and tie thieves to specific crimes.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">In developing the system, CrimeBite attempted to reduce as many psychological barriers as possible. The training materials recommend the term "finger signature" instead of fingerprint. The process is free of any ink or residue; there is nothing to stain the skin or clothing. The company recommends using the index finger, rather than the thumb. The print is in bright “friendly” blue, instead of the more ominous black.<o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman">Ms. Del Rossi stresses the importance of a well-developed procedure and staff training to assure that the program is accepted by employees and customers.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Southern Tastes"><font size="5">Shelby Report</font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>CrimeBite System Nibbles Away at Check Forge, Fraud</em></font></h2> <p><font size="3">A simple yet highly effective crime deterrent is making the rounds of grocery stores, banks and other retail businesses. CrimeBite Ltd.'s Fraud Prevention System doesn't rely on complicated technology. In test markets in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia, merchants are finding that a simple thumbprint on the back of a check not only apprehends check-forgers but deters potential fraud.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Food Lion Inc., Salisbury N.C., found that check fraud was reduced by 30 percent in a 90-day test at 12 stores in Augusta, Ga. Those results prompted Food Lion to extend the test to its 41 stores in the Charlotte/Gastonia, N.C., marketing area. That group of stores found that their check fraud losses dropped 30 percent in the first 30 days. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Now, 161 Food Lion stores in Florida are utilizing the CrimeBite system. </font></p> <p><font size="3">The next installment for Food Lion is also expected to take place in North Carolina, in the Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem areas. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Winn-Dixie Jacksonville is also in the process of testing the system at select locations in Jacksonville and Tallahassee. Eric Padgett, Return Check Supervisor for the division, said that although it is too early for specific numbers on the success ratio of the program, "Based on what I've seen and heard from the location managers, it's going excellent. Not many customers are arguing about it,<b> </b>and lots of them are really getting into it and are saying, 'Hey, neat. It's for my safety.' We are also seeing the ones that are turning away and walking off. We consider them as potential losses which we have now turned into a potential gain because we haven't given out any groceries or given out any money. So we can see a difference."</font></p> <p><font size="3">Publix Super Markets of Lakeland, Fla., is testing the program at selected locations, and at least one other chain with stores in Florida is looking into putting the system to the test. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Developed in California in the 1 970s, the system uses an inkless chemical reaction to register the check writer's thumbprint on a sticker attached to the back of the check. After checking conventional identification, a chemically treated, pressure-sensitive CrimeBite sticker is removed from a dispenser containing a roll of 500 stickers. The Customers right thumb is then pressed gently to the activating thumb pad and then to the CrimeBite sticker, producing a sharp, clear, permanent print instantly.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Because the system requires an on-site, instant thumbprint, those with a criminal background will likely resist the urge to pass fraudulent checks or credit cards. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Dorenda Lockwood, office manager for Boardman Convenience Stores in Augusta, Ga., said since putting the system in place, the company's stores have "noticed a significant decrease in stolen and forged checks." Lockwood said the system is "easy to use and very customer-friendly." </font></p> <p><font size="3">CrimeBite personnel train the stores' managers and customer service representatives through meetings, hands-on interaction, role-playing, video support and manuals.</font></p> <p><font size="3">CrimeBite staff also meet with local and regional law enforcement personnel as well as the state attorney offices in each district. That way, a "net" is set up to find and prosecute forgers and frauds.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Lydia del Rossi, president of CrimeBite, based in Aiken, S.C., says the system has been well-received by law enforcement agencies, noting that police and sheriff departments were "delighted there was a method to both deter and catch criminals."</font></p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995"><font size="5"><b>Aiken Standard - October 29, 1995</b></font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><em><b>Forgers May Get Fingered</b></em></h2> <h2 align="center">by Brian Neill</h2> <p>Thousands of bad checks are passed to banks and merchants in Aiken County each year, clogging courtrooms and tying up investigators.</p> <p>But, while many check forgers are proficient in their phony John Hancocks, there is one signature they can't fake: Their fingerprints.</p> <p>A product called Authentiprint is being considered by local merchants and bar enforcement to deter forgers from passing bogus checks, and to catch them if they do.</p> <p>Authentiprint is an inkless fingerprinting system consisting of chemically treated pressure-sensitive stickers that are placed on the backs of cashed checks. There's no smudge, no mess, just a simple press of the thumb.</p> <p>Several states have already implemented inkless fingerprinting requirements with much success.</p> <p>The Bank of America, based in Nevada, reduced by 42 percent its losses to counterfeit checks since using the system, according to a newsletter of the International Association of Credit Card Investigators.</p> <p>Detective Larry Stewart has no trouble keeping busy with the forged check business in Aiken. </p> <p>The Aiken Department of Public Safety investigator said the stakes in check fraud have increased dramatically just in the past year and a half.</p> <p>"It used to be a $300 check forgery was a pretty hefty check forgery," Stewart said, "and now they're up in the thousands."</p> <p>Stewart said a clean print on the back of a check could save him hours of legwork and help increase the number of arrested check forgers.</p> <p>"I think it would be a benefit to everyone; it would definitely be a benefit to me," Stewart said. "It would save me a week or two of investigation just to run the fingerprint through the AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) system and come up with a name."</p> <p>Aiken County Sheriff Howard Sellers is also receptive to the idea.</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Columbia News - April 17, 1996">Columbia News - April 17, 1996</a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em><b>Blue Thumbprint Can Thwart Bogus Checks</b></em></font></h2> <h2 align="center"><b>by Bill Hermann, </b><font size="5">Staff Writer</font></h2> <p>Beware the blue thumbprint!</p> <p>That is the message beginning to circulate in the Central Savannah River Area to persons attempting to cash fraudulent or stolen checks. The system is so simple and foolproof it might easily be dismissed in this age of high-tech schemes. </p> <p>Evidence is beginning to mount that a system called "Authentiprint" can make a difference. In Grovetown a culprit was apprehended after passing a stolen check with his thumbprint at a local service station where the system is in place. According to Sergeant Carol Wolfe of the Forgery Unit of the Grovetown Department of Public Safety the system can be "a real deterrent," giving would be forgers ''second<b> </b>thoughts" before passing bogus checks. Sgt. Wolfe said of Authentiprint, "I hope it catches on" with many local merchants.</p> <p>All outlets, of Frank Wilson' s rentals are now using Authentiprint along with units of Koger-Walters Amoco according to Lydia del Rossi, the franchise holder for the system in Georgia, and South and North Carolina.</p> <p><i>First Union Test</i></p> <p>A test program is underway in Columbia, South Carolina by First Union Bank with the prospect of using it throughout their banking chain in the near future.</p> <p>Developed in California in the 1970's, Authentiprint uses an inkless chemical reaction to register the check writer's right thumbprint on a sticker attached to the back of a check or credit card for identification. There is no trace of ink on the user' s thumb, yet a bright blue print registers on the sticker and can be used by law enforcement officials to verify identity.</p> <p>Merchants in Aiken, S.C. have been using, the system for several months An article in the January 7 issue of The <i>Aiken Standard </i>said the Department of Public Safety there fully supported the system.</p> <p>Dorenda Lockwood, Office Manager of Boardman Convenience Stores, Inc., of Augusta put it this way in a letter to del Rossi: "Tylenol may be replacing aspirin as a headache remedy-but headaches remain. Especially collection headaches. After putting your Authentiprint system in place, we noticed a significant decrease in stolen and forged checks. As a direct result, our collection losses have been significantly reduced. We find the system easy to use and very customer friendly. </p> <p>"With nothing to lose but your 'headaches,' and the probable recovery of<b> </b>otherwise impossible checks, let <i>this </i>letter serve as a recommendation - to future Authentiprint prospects. "</p> <p>Last week, the dynamic Ms. del Rossi whose firm is known as "CrimeBite, Ltd." of Aiken, was featured speaker at the Belk Home office meeting of the Retail Loss Prevention Association of the Carolinas in Charlotte. On May 8 she is scheduled to address the Georgia Association of Professional Bondsmen at Callaway Gardens Resort in Pine Mountain, Georgia. Bob Raburn of Augusta is President of the Association.</p> <p>Merchants utilizing the Authentiprint system have red and white signs posted in their businesses. Many customers have praised the system, especially those who have been victimized by check thieves. It is estimated about 500 million checks are written for non-sufficient funds annually in the U.S.</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996"><font size="5">Aiken Standard - January 7, 1996</font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>Authentiprint May Finger Bad Checks</em></font></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5">by Michael W. Gibbons</font></h2> <p>Aiken merchants are discovering a new way to thwart attempts by criminals to pass forged or stolen checks or credit cards.</p> <p>With the advent of a new inkless fingerprinting system called Authentiprint, criminals attempting to pass bad checks or credit transactions will leave a crucial piece of evidence at the scene of the crime--a clear fingerprint, ready for police processing.</p> <p>The system, developed in California in the 1970s, has recently reached the Aiken area, thanks to Lydia del Rossi, owner of CrimeBite, Ltd.</p> <p>The system uses an inkless chemical reaction which registers the check writer's fingerprint on a sticker on the back of a check or credit card transaction.</p> <p>Initially, someone with a criminal mind win resist the urge to pass fraudulent checks or credit cards. Consequently, Authentiprint works effectively as a deterrent.</p> <p>However, if someone is brave enough to follow through with a bogus transaction, the criminal's fingerprint will be in plain sight for police to use.</p> <p>Nine businesses in the Aiken area already use Authentiprint, and Ms. del Rossi expects many more in the near future.</p> <p>Vicky Locklair, office manager of Aiken Drug, Co., Woodruff Drug Store and Lominick Pharmacy, said that most patrons, once the system is explained, are receptive to the idea.</p> <p>"Most of every comment was to the positive. They said, 'Well if this can protect me, then, yes, I want to do it.' Some of U em said it was the greatest thing they had ever seen," said Ms. Locklair.</p> <p>Detective Larry Stewart of the Aiken Department of Public Safety said that it would be advantageous for merchants and banks to acquire the system.</p> <p>"It's my advice to banks, merchants and everyone else to get it. It's a convenient, inexpensive way to protect against check fraud," said Stewart. </p> <p>Stewart said that a majority of his investigation time is spent dealing with check forgers. </p> <p>Stewart said that the Authentiprint system would reduce the number of forgers as well as the time needed to apprehend forgery suspects.</p> <p>Stewart also said that people who feel inconvenienced by the system should consider the alternative.</p> <p>"I've talked to some of the banks and merchants and the main negative feedback is they feel like it will be an inconvenience to the customers.</p> <p>"It may seem inconvenient to put an fingerprint on a check, (but) it doesn't compare in any way if someone gets some of your checks and cashes them.</p> <p>"It's a protection for everyone against someone using checks that belong to someone else," said Stewart.</p> <p>He also said the Aiken Department of Public Safety fully supported the Authentiprint Identification System. </p> <p>"We back it whole-heartedly as an aid to investigation as well as a deterrent."</p> <p>Ms. del Rossi expects future users that have the system installed will be "banks and business owners who are willing to take an active role in protecting their customers against fraud and stopping criminals from using their place of business as a target."</p> <p>She believes that the ease of the system and its effectiveness contribute to its popularity, "The system is very simplistic. That's the beauty of it," said Ms. del Rossi.</p> <p>According to Ms. del Rossi, the initial fear merchants may have of offending long-time customers will be quickly dismissed.</p> <p>Customers are notified by various Authentiprint signs throughout the business that all transactions must be processed through the Authentiprint system.</p> <p>Furthermore, the customers should understand that any attempt such as this is done to protect the customers from criminals. As a result, businesses can keep prices down and safety up.</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Food People - December 1996"><font size="5">Food People - December 1996</font></a></h2> <p align="center"><font size="5"><em>Fingerprints Help Retailers Serve Honest Customers</em></font></p> <p>Cashing the stranger's payroll or government check has become more risky, especially when you consider Americans write more than 60 billion checks a year. It's reported that some 500 million bogus checks are passed each year creating a $10 billion problem.</p> <p>One southeastern supermarket chain that dared to offer a check cashing service at its customer service center took a $30,000 hit from counterfeit in just four days. Such incidents are one reason that the supermarket industry has been hesitant to cash checks not written at checkout. </p> <p>At the same time, theres increasing pressure for supermarkets to do more than just sell groceries. More, service is the key for fostering greater shopper loyalty, and cashing payroll or government-issued checks is one of those services. </p> <p>Enter Lydia del Rossi, president of CrimeBite, Ltd. of Aiken, SC. A counterfeit ring had photocopied a check from a high profile company. </p> <p>Authorities were able to acquire positive identification of several participants in that scam. One had a criminal record stretching back 20 years. This was because inkless fingerprinting had become part of the stores check cashing policy.</p> <p>The prints on the bogus check were tracked through the Automatic Fingerprint Identification System used by law agencies. "Print Trak can take what to the visible eye appears to be a simple print and they can scan it into data bank of millions of criminal prints and make a match." Furthermore, when a cashed stolen or counterfeit check is taken to the local law enforcement agency, the computerized search can be successful in as little as seven minutes. </p> <p>A real help to deterring the passing of counterfeit or forged check is signage that proclaims, "For your protection we use CrimeBite Identification System. Your fingerprint is required on specific check to protect you against forgery of your signature." Honest customers appreciate knowing that should their check be stolen, retailers are doing their best to ensure that the thief hesitates to cash it. Furthermore, there is no residue left on the customers finger.</p> <p>Lydia noted that one Charlotte, NC, supermarket retailer reported a 40% decline in losses due to bogus chocks in the first 60<i> </i>days, with only four customer inquiries in the 42 stores. "No preventive measure is 100% sure, but even at 40% youre saving serious money. Furthermore, honest customers arc concerned about crime and they appreciate that the merchant is doing what he can about the problem."</p> <p>Del Rossi added that with an average of 7,000 shoppers per week in each of the 42 stores, four customer complaints regarding fingerprinting is miniscule. She notes that 90% of the check crime comes from 7% of the population.</p> <p>Thanks to fingerprinting, the grocery industry can focus on customer service because criminals don't willingly leave fingerprints at the scene of the crime. "Additionally, if they dare to test the system, then their identification and prosecution is swift because they leave behind that one irrefutable piece of identification: the fingerprint."</p> <p>A major hindrance to immediate apprehension is the culprit is ever on the move, making it difficult to intercept that person. Meanwhile, the AFIS system has the ability to store the suspect's print so when apprehended the thief can be prosecuted for all bad checks passed. Criminals hate to leave a trail behind, and will look for other ways to ply their trade.</p> <p>Del Rossi cites the time a burglar left a fingerprint on a house window. Fortunately, the person also was brazen enough to let the merchant take his fingerprint for the stolen check. "With prints on both the check and the window, he didn't have a leg to stand on."</p> <p>Apprehension, and prosecution is much more sure, thanks to technology. "Until now merchants had only card ID to go on. Yet, technology makes K easier and easier to forge a driver's license or other pictured identification When the fingerprint is on the back of a counterfeited check, frauds cant get out of prosecution."</p> <p>Lydia del Rossi concludes, "The merchant must be proactive. The dream is to get the retailer united with local, regional, state, and national law enforcement agencies to make robbery with the pen just as risky as robbery with a gun."</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Times-Union"><font size="5">Times-Union</font></a></h2> <h2 align="center"><font size="5"><em>Food Lion bagging bad checks with new fingerprinting system</em></font></h2> <p align="center"><font size="5">by Simon Barker-Benfield</font></p> <p><font size="3">Food Lion Inc. has started fingerprinting customers who want to cash payroll checks at its Jacksonville supermarkets.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The move is aimed at professional bad check passers and makes use of a special inkless activator pad kept at the checkout counter.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The company pays particular attention to newly opened accounts and two-party payroll checks, said Kim Rogers, a Food Lion spokeswoman.</font></p> <p><font size="3">If the check turns out to be stolen or forged, it---and the fingerprint---get turned over to police, who can run the fingerprint through the Automatic Fingerprint Identification System, a federal database that matches up fingerprints of people who have broken the law before.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Food Lion said a 30-day test in Augusta, Ga., produced no customer complaints and a 30 percent decrease in dud checks.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. has no plans to introduce the system, said Bruce Baxter, a company spokesman.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Publix Super Markets is aware <i>of </i>the Food Lion program but also has no plans to test or introduce it, said Jennifer Bush, a company spokeswoman. </font></p> <p><font size="3">"But we are always looking at new technologies," Bush said.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Some banks, including First Union National<b> </b>Bank of Florida, have adopted the system.</font></p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <h2 align="center"><a name="Stores - January 1997">Stores - January 1997</a></h2> <h2 align="center"><em>Supermarkets Try New Methods Against Growing Bad-Check Woes</em></h2> <h2 align="center">by Patricia A. Murphy</h2> <p>[Patricia A. Murphy is a Takoma Park, Md.-based business writer who specializes in payments and technology.]</p> <p>As banks step up efforts to reduce over-the-counter check fraud losses, supermarkets, one of the more popular alternative outlets for<i> </i>consumers to cash checks, are seeing a dramatic rise in bad checks.</p> <p>Check fraud reduction "is basically a risk transference process," says Walter Heilner, vice president of Wells Fargo Bank, Phoenix. Increasingly, that risk is being transferred to supermarkets.</p> <p>Supermarket executives say they're being<b> </b>inundated with bad checks, most notably counterfeit payroll checks. According to the 1996 National Retail Security Survey issued by the University of Florida, supermarkets experienced 2,231.6 bad checks for every $100 million in sales last year, up from 1,774 in 1995, well above the average of 1,658 for all retail segments in l996.</p> <p>A survey last year by the Food Marketing Institute, meanwhile, found that the average net loss per grocery store from bad checks exceeded $l 3,000.</p> <p>Those numbers mask the significance of the problem to individual grocers, however. For example, one grocer with $1 billion in annual sales reportedly wrote off 0.28 percent of sales last year due to bad checks.</p> <p>Considering that most supermarkets operate on a 1 percent margin, that's a whopping share of profits lost to bad checks. The average company, according to Washington, D.C.-based FMI, reports losses in the range of 0.09 percent of gross sales.</p> <p>The problem is getting worse," notes Clayton Edwards, director of loss prevention for Food Lion, headquartered in Salisbury, N.C. "On of the reasons is that we [supermarkets] are one of the last places a person can go to and cash a payroll check. "</p> <p>With 1,100 stores spanning 14 states, Food Lion serves 10 million customers a week, who ring up nearly $9 billion in annual sales.</p> <p>In addition to cashing their payroll checks, consumers also are more prone to paying for groceries with checks than they are most other purchases. At Food Lion, Edwards estimates 65 percent of sales are paid for by check, about 25 percent are cash-back checks.</p> <p align="center"><font size="6"><strong>. . .</strong></font></p> <p align="left">Edwards agrees that information sharing is an important strategy in fighting check fraud, as are on-line check authorization services.</p> <p align="center"><font size="6"><strong>. . .</strong></font></p> <p>So Food Lion has begun piloting an inkless fingerprint program, which Edwards says already has demonstrated 30 percent to 40 percent reductions in bad checks, and even helped track down a gang of counterfeit check artists who have been plaguing East Coast merchants.</p> <p align="center"><font size="6"><strong>. . .</strong></font></p> <p>At a cost of about $5 each, merchants can equip checkout stands with inkless fingerprint pads, which customers are then asked to use in leaving a print on checks tendered. Most fraudulent operators presumably will want to avoid having their prints taken. Those who do leave a print, however, can be tracked down via the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), which connects most law enforcement databases of fingerprints nationwide. Even if a person's print is not on file, if a suspect is subsequently caught, the print on a check can easily be matched against a print taken from the suspect at the time of questioning.</p> <p>"It's a tremendous tool," says Edwards, adding that customer reaction has been generally favorable. The positive shopper response has been due to Food Lion's efforts to help them understand why the fingerprints were necessary, he suggest "We try to put it to them in terms of somebody raking money out of their pockets."</p> <p><a href="#CrimeBite Article Index"><font size="3"><strong>Click here to go back to the CrimeBite Article Index.</strong></font></a></p> <hr> <p><strong><font size="5"><sup><sup>Visitors since 4/16/98:</sup></sup><img src="_vti_bin/fpcount.exe/crimebite2005/?Page=navbar.htm|Custom=counter.gif|Digits=5" alt="Hit Counter"></font></strong></p> <p><strong><font size="5"><sup><sup>Visitors since 4/16/98:</sup></sup><img src="_vti_bin/fpcount.exe/crimebite2005/?Page=counter.htm|Custom=counter.gif|Digits=5" alt="Hit Counter"></font></strong></p> <h5>Send mail to <a href="mailto:wedaniel@crimebite.com">wedaniel@crimebite.com</a> with questions or comments about this web site.<br> Copyright © 2000 CrimeBite™, Ltd. <br> Last modified: March 11, 2005 </h5> <p> </p> <h5>Send mail to <a href="mailto:wedaniel@crimebite.com">wedaniel@crimebite.com</a> with questions or comments about this web site.<br> Copyright © 2000 CrimeBite™, Ltd. <br> Last modified: March 16, 2005 </h5> <p> </p> </body>