Button: Member Login
Image: Search
Button: Home
Button: Retailers
Button: Solution Providers
Button: Industry Information
Button: Government Relations
Button: Press
Button: myNRF
News Image: Text decoration - bulletLoss Prevention Image: Text decoration - bulletNovember 3, 2009

NRF Updates “Buyer Beware” List of Products for Shoppers to Steer Clear on Auction Sites

Blog post: NRF's Joe LaRocca highlights recent organized retail crime busts which illustrate the need for federal legislation.

The debate heats up: NRF's Joe LaRocca confronts allegations by online auction sites over NRF's stance on the issue.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Kathy Grannis (202) 783-7971
Email: grannisk@nrf.com

NRF Updates “Buyer Beware” List of Products for Shoppers
to Steer Clear on Auction Sites
--Stolen Items Could be Spoiled, Pose Health Risks--

Washington, November 3, 2009 – The National Retail Federation has added new products to a consumer alert about common household items being sold through some online auction sites, warning that these items could be stolen or tainted, posing health risks to consumers. NRF’s warning comes in advance of a Congressional hearing this Thursday about organized retail crime.

“Though retailers suffer billions of dollars in losses each year from organized retail crime, they are not the only group who’s hurt,” said Joe LaRocca, NRF senior asset protection advisor. “Most stolen merchandise is not stored properly and could expose unsuspecting shoppers or their children to a host of risks from spoiled baby formula and pain medication to inaccurate results from diabetic test strips or pregnancy tests.”

According to NRF, organized retail crime groups often steal thousands of dollars of popular, consumable goods at a time with the intent to resell them for profit. In addition to the health risks caused by tainted merchandise, shoppers are left with no way to ensure they are getting the quality they paid for. NRF recommends that shoppers only buy health and beauty items from reputable sources they know and trust, such as legitimate retail stores or websites.

Organized retail crime investigators from a variety of the nation’s largest retailers have identified these items as the most popular health and beauty products stolen and resold by criminals. Additions to the list are bolded:

•    Abreva
•    Advil
•    Aleve
•    Alli weight loss pills
•    Benadryl
•    Braun toothbrushes & replacement heads
•    Bumble and Bumble
•    Claritin
•    Cover Girl cosmetics
•    Crest Whitestrips
•    diabetic testing strips
•    e.p.t. pregnancy tests
•    Gillette Fusion Razors and replacement cartridges
•    Gillette MACH3, Venus and Sensor razors and refill cartridges
•    Lotrimin
•    Matrix
•    Nicorette
•    Oil of Olay
•    Oral B replacement heads
•    Pepcid AC
•    Prilosec
•    Primatene
•    Pureology
•    RoC
•    Rogaine
•    Similac
•    Sudafed
•    Schick Quattro razors and all Schick refill cartridges
•    Sonicare replacement heads
•    Tylenol Extra Strength
•    Visine
•    Zantac

For information about the dangers of using expired or improperly stored medication, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

NRF also added specific electronics and food items to the list, including:

•    High-end liquor
•    Cigarettes
•    Red Bull energy drinks
•    Blu-ray movies and player
•    Braun electric razors
•    Dyson vacuums

As the issue of organized retail crime has become more prominent, local and federal law enforcement has begun to crack down more heavily on criminals accused of stealing large quantities of merchandise in stores and reselling it online. However, NRF believes federal legislation is needed to assist law enforcement and prosecutors in their efforts.

“While retailers will continue to invest billions of dollars trying to prevent organized retail crime and apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators, this epidemic cannot be solved by fighting these cases solely in the shopping aisles,” said LaRocca. “New federal laws will make organized retail crime part of our federal criminal statutes, giving law enforcement officers and prosecutors the tools they need to put these criminals behind bars.”

The National Retail Federation is the world's largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as the industry's key trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents an industry with more than 1.6 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 24 million employees - about one in five American workers - and 2008 sales of $4.6 trillion. As the industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100 state, national and international retail associations. www.nrf.com.

###


 
Image: Decorative spacer325 7th Street, NW Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20004 Image: Decorative spacerPH: 1-800-673-4692 or +1-202-783-7971 Image: Decorative spacerFax: 202-737-2849
Image: Decorative spacerContact Us Image: Decorative spacerEmail
 Copyright 2010 National Retail Federation
Terms & Conditions
Login