Cybercrime is soaring.
Total losses from crimes against the jewelry fell 0.4 percent to $72.1 million in 2017, but there was a troubling increase in certain types of crimes, the Jewelers’ Security Alliance reports.
The total number of crimes against the industry increased 12 percent to 1,394, JSA said in its 2017 Annual Crime Report.
“While overall dollar losses were flat, JSA is particularly concerned about the upsurge in smash-and-grab robberies, a big jump in grab-and-run thefts, and some very large losses in cyber-enabled crimes which involved deception, impersonation and the internet,” said John Kennedy, president of JSA. “
According to JSA:
- Reports of smash-and-grab robberies rose from 62 in 2016 to 71 in 2017, an increase of 14.5 percent. Over 50 persent of smash-and-grab robberies occurred in mall locations.
- Grab-and-run thefts rose from 420 in 2016 to 556 in 2017, an increase of 32.4 percent.
- In 2017 JSA recorded a large dollar increase in cyber-enabled thefts by deception and impersonation. The average loss from this type of crime was over $1.2 million.
One piece of good news: Off-premises crimes, including traveling salesperson losses, fell to 39 in 2017, the lowest total in over 20 years.
The full report is available here.