Department store chain House of Fraser is rolling out an integrated database and CCTV system to cut fraud.

The retailer is using a combination of data mining and real-time systems to cut back on losses, according to Jerry Carter, head of loss prevention at House of Fraser.

"The live and the retrospective systems work together," he explained. "We can spot fraud and backtrack quickly. This way we can claim the true value of what we've lost."

The retailer has been using the Eposcan system from Photoscan at six stores in the south east where fraud is worst, and is now planning to roll the system out to another five stores.

Eposcan links into digital CCTV, and can be programmed to alert security to specific events such as large refunds by a particular member of staff, or a particular credit card type. If a fraud occurs then the retailer has real-time footage as proof.

Carter told vnunet.com that the system paid for itself in 18 months, and that the company plans to extend its use. "We are looking to monitor several sites from a central point which will be more cost effective," he explained.

House of Fraser is also mining its Epos database to find patterns of fraudulent activity.

The retailer looks for things like sales where large discounts are given, or whether a credit card been processed by the same member of staff more than once, which could suggest collusion.

Speaking at an SAS Institute fraud detection forum, Carter warned that criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

In one case House of Fraser became concerned about a number of refunds to a credit card, when it appeared that the original purchase had been made on a different card.

Further investigation showed that goods were being bought by fraudsters with cloned cards, and the receipts were being doctored to show the number of a second credit card.

When the refund was made, the fraudster could then use the second card to withdraw the refund as cash.