Businesses Also Feel The Sting Of Identity Fraud

By Author: Mervin Horton
Total Articles: 18
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Is Identity theft on the wane? As per some new stats the answer is absolutely yes. Yet it's uncertain whether or not the actual crime is on the decline or people are just not bothering to report it. A couple of things are certain. One is that id theft and fraud continues to be the top consumer grievance and number two that it impacts companies as well as individuals.

Most recently the Atlanta Journal Constitution published an article about one company which was targeted by fraudsters. It seems that somebody had taken the companies taxpayer identification number and then used it to create over cyberspace a hundred bogus W-2 forms. After doing so the person files reports to federal as well as area government agencies stating they have paid out over four million dollars in salary. The intent was simple. Get back as many tax refund checks before anyone got wise to what was going on.

When it comes to identity fraud, the cost to companies around the globe runs into the the billions. And like individuals there is absolutely no one hundred ...
... percent full proof system to defend against this misdeed however there are a few things that may help a great deal in lowering the danger.

1. Encrypt The Business And Workers Info

Quite a few organisations do so already. Some did not and learned the hard way once thieves broke into the company data bank. In a lot of situations the thieves were employed by the company and were capable of easily gain access to whatever information they happened to be searching for. The business didn't recognize what was going on before it was over and done with since they had no way to monitor precisely what each employee was doing.

For this reason it is essential to install some sort of security and monitoring software. Additionally it is highly advisable that upgrades to the software program be implemented in a timely fashion due to the fact that any kind of lapse provides identity thieves the right opening to break into the database.

2. Exactly where Could It Be

That would certainly be funny if it didn't have terrible repercussions. But a lot of companies have no clue just where their info is kept which results in loss data files. A computer data flow map is generally an ideal answer for this dilemma.

Data flow maps allow people that have the proper credentials to keep track of data along with understanding who should and should not have access to this information. This way information cannot just go missing and then wind up in spaces where unauthorized personnel can get it.

For more information go to identity fraud