Account Takeover
Account takeover is one of the most common — and most preventable — forms of identity theft. It takes place when a third party intercepts an employee’s bank account information or credit card number(s) and uses this knowledge to gain control of their victim’s finances. If the theft isn’t immediately caught, the victim’s bank account can be cleaned out.
To prevent this from happening to any of your employees, enlist the aid of an online security company. With the help of their data encryption services, your workers’ financial information will never fall into the hands of identity thieves.
Business Identity Theft
Employees aren’t the only ones at risk for identity theft in the workplace; your entire company can have its identity compromised as well. Business identity theft occurs when a company’s financial information is stolen and used to obtain loans or make large purchases. This crime can run businesses into the ground in weeks.
Since business theft is often perpetrated by someone in a company, business owners should be selective about who they trust with confidential correspondences and financial documentation. As an added precaution, consider setting up an elaborate password system for your financial database.
Dumpster Diving
One of the oldest forms of identity theft, dumpster diving remains a popular method of retrieving sensitive documents. While not particularly high-tech, dumpster diving can still be an effective way to perpetrate identity theft. Your company’s trash is a veritable treasure trove for identity thieves. Packed to the brim with bills, account statements and other confidential information, any criminal that happens upon your dumpster will feel like he’s hit the jackpot.
You can ensure dumpster divers go home empty-handed by hiring a corporate waste removal company to securely dispose of your business’s trash. These companies use paper shredders to turn your business’s confidential documents into unrecognizable scraps. Additionally, discourage your employees from throwing away paystubs and other documents containing personal information at the office.
Although identity theft in all its forms constitutes a criminal act, criminal identity theft refers to the practice of committing illegal acts in another person’s name. After obtaining personal information, a criminal may give the police the victim’s personal information after being arrested. Once the criminal is out of police custody, the victim can potentially be blamed for the offenses she committed. In extreme cases, criminal identity theft can lead to the arrest of the thief’s unwitting victim. This type of identity theft serves as another reminder that encryption is essential to securing a company’s database.
As USA Today reports, identity theft is a crime that continuously baffles police. By adopting a number of security measures at your business, you can successfully keep identity theft out of your workplace.