Bloomingdale's Black Tags Curb $8.8 Billion Fraud Bill

Instead of just tagging merchandise before it's purchased to prevent theft, Bloomingdale's is keeping some garments tagged after they're sold, too. The three- inch black plastic devices are in visible places, like the front bottom hemline, so they're hard to hide when the garment is worn. Once shoppers remove the tags, which can't be reattached, they can't return the item. Bloomingdale's is using the tactic to combat a practice known as "wardrobing" — buying clothes and using them once — a form of return fraud, which the National Retail Federation estimates cost the industry $8.8 billion last year.