Success at NRF Protect

We were very proud to put on a fantastic show in Texas being one of the busier booths throughout the show.
Watchdog Asset Protect and Watchdog Verify made a huge impact Stateside.
It was a real privilege to spend time with existing clients and build new relationships.

If Brand Protection and Loss Prevention is an area of your business that you want to gain control over, please do not hesitate to contact Paul Tuck paul.tuck@comsechq.com  or call 07880 200 948 to discuss a solution.   

Are you protecting your staff from Online abuse?

Online abuse is personally traumatic, cowardly and, all too often, anonymously carried out with little repercussions for the perpetrator or support for the victim. It can also greatly damage brand reputation and is increasingly an issue for social media platforms, government and businesses.


Watchdog, Comsec’s proprietary automated software, provides a well-tested, robust and agile detection system that is accepted by all major platform suppliers. Our software identifies abusive and discriminatory posts, takes steps to reveal the user’s identity and initiates the ‘take-down’ process on behalf of the client.
To find out more about how Comsec can help combat online abuse get please in touch. 

Pro-active online monitoring programme 

Pre-agreed search terms relevant to you  

Abusive emoji detection

Removal process

Comprehensive reporting tool

24/7/365 Reporting contact

Investigation services

Proof of Concept available on request

Monthly subscription or one off investigation available 

Online monitoring during any live event

Evidential package for law enforcement and liaison services

If protecting your staff from on-line abuse is an area of your business that you want to gain control over, please do not hesitate to contact Paul Tuck paul.tuck@comsechq.com  or call 07880 200 948 to discuss a solution.   

Watchdog : Object detection

By using complex machine learning techniques, we are able to train a computer model to detect an object (logo) or text – completely bespoke to the client. This allows for the automation of detecting the client’s brands logos or relevant text on images, as well as on product, right down to identifying serial numbers on products/labels and storing this information in Watchdog.

Comsec works with leading data scientists to train a bespoke computer model to identify an object (logo) of interest or text within an image. We provide an initial set-up service, which takes place in two stages: collating 250-500 example images for each object (logo), followed by an approximate six-week process of training a computer model to detect the logos clients brands against items brought into Watchdog.

Watchdog has the ability to search, filter and analyse this data in a secure environment, turning information from eCommerce sites, websites and social media platforms into actionable intelligence to protect the client business.

Watchdog searches key sites of interest to clients to identify sales of products containing their brand name. Any images associated with these items are harvested in the database. Using a bespoke object detection model, clients can filter and surface images of interest.

Once the model has been completed and integrated into the Watchdog service, results can be filtered by:
● Confidence rating that the results identified match the logo (object) of interest
● Object/Text identified
● Matches found by specific search terms
● Images containing text matching a specified pattern

If Brand Protection is an area of your business that you want to gain control over, please do not hesitate to contact Paul Tuck paul.tuck@comsechq.com  or call 07880 200 948 to discuss a solution.   

Comsec Launches Verify: Refund Claims Fraud Prevention Software

Comsec have developed an ‘award winning’ intelligence infrastructure targeting online groups/forums sharing and performing various types of refund fraud.

We are currently supporting several online retail brands with organized fraud returns in Europe and our investigation has identified retailers in your industry as being targeted by individuals looking to complete fraudulent returns on a large and repeating scale.

We identify Bad Actors through Multi-Channel Data Analysis, (Watchdog), triage incidents and fraud claims, initiate enforcement action and mitigate future risk.

Watchdog: Online monitoring of eCommerce platforms and Social Media to cross reference bad actors for reselling activity.

If Refund fraud  is an area of your business that you want to gain control over, please do not hesitate to contact Paul Tuck paul.tuck@comsechq.com  or call 07880 200 948 to discuss a solution. 

Watchdog – PowerBI

Exciting news! In the summer of 2022, we started a project to integrate Power BI into Watchdog. Power BI is the gold standard for business intelligence and it was the natural choice for integration with Watchdog – the gold standard for asset protection!

Power BI is easily able to ingest the “big data”, which Watchdog generates and offers infinite flexibility in report generation. Partnering with experts in their field, On Data, we are delighted to announce the successful completion of the project, Power BI is now fully integrated into Watchdog.

What does this mean for Watchdog customers? Taking a data feed from Watchdog, Power BI surfaces reports together with visualizations which bring colour and life to your data. A comprehensive selection of reports are available to customers and we are able to develop custom reports on request.

Power BI is embedded into Watchdog, customers receive the full benefit of the application without stepping outside of the Watchdog platform. Customers who have Power BI integrated into their business will be able to view Watchdog reports via their own Power BI portal.

What’s next…. new feature development, data enrichment and operational refinement of Watchdog is relentless and the Power BI integration will keep pace with this. Since the inception of Watchdog, its evolution has always been customer led, the decision to integrate Power BI was driven by our customer base, so what’s next could be your call!

If Power BI is something your business is interested in utilising, please do not hesitate to contact Paul Tuck paul.tuck@comsechq.com  or call 07880 200 948 to discuss a solution.   

Retail Risk Fraud Awards

Comsec Investigations recently attended the 2022 Retail Risk Fraud Awards where we were delighted to win not one but two awards related to our innovative work around ecommerce fraud and civil recovery in collaboration with adidas and DWF.

  • AWARD FOR MOST INNOVATIVE ONLINE RETAIL RISK MANAGEMENT SOLUTION
  • AWARD FOR BEST COLLABORATIVE RETAIL RISK MANAGEMENT SOLUTION

Affecting a huge number of retailers, this project seeks to help businesses recover lost revenue suffered through online return scams.

To be recognised by the industry for this product is a proud moment but more importantly it highlights how much more needs to be done.

If you suspect your business is being affected by online return fraud please do not hesitate to contact Paul Tuck paul.tuck@comsechq.com  or call 07880 200 948 to discuss a solution.   

Stolen goods being sold Online

Comsec’s online surveillance tool ‘Watchdog’ can automatically detect stolen and fraudulently obtained items being sold online

Employee theft is one of the most common way businesses lose money , assets and their reputation. With various online selling platforms available it’s becoming easier for staff to profit from stolen goods.

Watchdog automates online asset protection by interrogating commerce platforms, social media, online marketplaces (eBay, Amazon, Gumtree etc.), as well as many search engines in real time.

This information is then then cross-referenced based on a number of criteria including: location, price and quantity to determine fraudulently obtained goods from within your business.

If stopping employee theft and Loss Prevention is an area of your business that you want to gain control over, please do not hesitate to contact Paul Tuck paul.tuck@comsechq.com  or call 07880 200 948 to discuss a solution.    

Comsec To Attend Brand Licensing Europe 2018

Comsec are set to attend Brand Licensing Europe 2018. This year’s event is taking place at London’s Olympia Grand between the 9th-11th October.

Brand Licensing Europe will bring together leading brand owners, retailers, licensees and manufacturers to network, make deals and trend spot.

This year’s exhibitors include: Games Workshop, 20th Century Fox Consumer Products, MyMediabox, Aardman and many, many more.

To find out more information about the event, visit: https://www.brandlicensing.eu/about/about-the-event.

Do you need help protecting your brand? Get in touch with us.

Source: https://www.brandlicensing.eu/

Watchdog Featured on JTI.com For Its Online Crackdown of Illicit Tobacco

Watchdog has been featured on Japan Tobacco International’s (JTI) website as part of their online series on The True Cost of Illegal Tobacco.

In a video called ‘Illegal Sales Trending Online‘, Watchdog’s Project Manager Alex Jones speaks about the dangers of buying and selling counterfeit tobacco online, and how Watchdog assists in tackling this global issue.

JTI state that if taken together as a whole, illegal tobacco would be the equivalent of the third-biggest tobacco manufacturer in the world.

More information on The True Cost of Illegal Tobacco series can be found here: https://www.jti.com/our-views.

Do you want to know more about the illicit tobacco trade? Search the hashtag #FightIllegalTobacco on social media.

Source: https://www.jti.com/our-views/new-era-illegal-trade

Six Arrested For Illegal Streaming After Year-Long Investigation

Following a year-long investigation coordinated by Europol, six arrests have been made across the UK and Ireland. All six are suspected of illicitly distributing premium TV channels using IPTV (Internet Protocol Television).

Police officers carried out house searches on 11 September 2018 in England, Scotland and Ireland. Including a man and a woman, who were arrested by the Hampshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service and Hampshire Constabulary.

The arrests were the result of a complex investigation, involving a number of law enforcement agencies, including: Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Police Scotland, Trading Standards and UK IPO.

Private sector partners were also involved, including: the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) and Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT).

Of the investigation coordinated by Europol, Sheila Cassells, Executive Director of AAPA and member of Europol’s IPC3 Stakeholder Advisory Group said:

“This case demonstrates clearly why it is crucial for the private sector and law enforcement to work together on these complex cases. The AAPA members involved value greatly the commitment of law enforcement to fighting audiovisual piracy and the coordination role undertaken by Europol.”

Piracy is a criminal activity. Illegally streaming copyrighted content brings a significant loss to broadcasters and rights owners. It also threatens the livelihoods of those working legitimately in the industry.

COMSEC’s proprietary software Watchdog has helped broadcasters tackle this huge issue online. Are you suffering from illicit streaming? Get in touch with us.

Source: https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/six-arrested-in-hit-against-illegal-television-streaming-in-uk-and-ireland