I know that this
is not exactly telecom fraud, but seeing how that has moved from kids doing
pranks to funding
global terrorism it is time to look at how phones are being used in ways
that were never envisioned.
We have seen
how the phoneme of flash mobs
have been used for good and bad in the past year. Flash mobs helped topple
governments in the Arab Spring. How they were used in the UK
riots. In each case the motivation behind the flash mob was different –
frustration at years of oppression to looting from frustration at the slow
economy.
Now retailers
have to worry if they are the next targets. In an article Joan Goodchild offers
4
steps retailers can take to combat flash robs.
Flash robs, technically known as multiple-offender crimes,
occur when a group of people coordinate to overcrowd a retail outlet and steal
items by overwhelming staff with their numbers and speed.
Earlier this
month, a crowd of youths in Maryland, some estimate as many as 50, made
headlines when they flash robbed a 7-Eleven in
Silver Springs, the third time
such an incident has happened in that area this year.
While these types of group attacks are not new
the combination of smartphones with Twitter
and Facebook make these kind of attacks
easier to coordinate and implement.
I will not repeat the suggestions that Joan gives
in her article, but I will say that they make sense to me: Product Placement,
Cameras, enough Staff, and training are the key.
