783 - How can identity theft affect your business?

Small business owners don't think much about their employees facing identity theft issues.

They don't consider that the cause of the identity theft could be within the walls of their own business.

This mindset is as dangerous as those who believe they are immune to identity theft because they have bad credit.

Identity thieves love people with bad credit because they aren't paying attention to their personal private information.

In the same way, small business owners who aren't careful with employee information are setting themselves up for major issues.

I saw a classic example of information neglect by a manager and an employee.

A new employee handed over her driver's license and social security card to a manager, let's call her Susan.

Upon handing over her original ID cards to Susan, the employee asked where the restroom was. She then left the cards with Susan while she went to the restroom.

I asked Susan why she would allow someone to leave their private information with her. She shrugged and said it was okay because she had to make copies.

Did she have to copy the documents? Some states prohibit the copying of personal documents by employers.

I asked Susan how she will respond if the employee experiences identity theft and then says, "The last person who had my information was Susan."

Susan stood there frozen in place as she thought about what I said. She had never considered that. After a moment she recovered and said, 'That won't happen.' But she got the message.

Evidently, Susan is psychic, as well as careless.

I later told the employee that she should never allow anyone to take her private information.

Insider threats pose a significant risk to small businesses and it's usually people like Susan who are not thinking about the risks.

Employees with access to personal information may intentionally or accidentally misuse or disclose it.

This can happen through unauthorized access, sharing credentials, or not following proper security protocols, as in Susan and the new employee's case.

Small business owners can face serious legal issues when employees' private information is stolen

The information can be sold on the dark web putting the business owner and every employee at greater risk of identity theft.

Do you offer comprehensive identity theft and legal protection to your employees?

✅ Remember, identity theft is more than financial fraud. Most identity theft can not be monitored.

Do you know who has access to your employees' private information?