Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine April 2017 | Page 27

Business
By: Becky Sill
Independent LegalShield Associate
www.beckysill.com
Identity Protection Framework Part I
We know that as long as there is technology there will be identity theft. Unfortunately, it’s the day we live
in. While there is no way to completely eliminate identity theft there are important steps to mitigate your
exposure to risk for yourself and your business.
WHAT IS IDENTITY THEFT? Identity theft is a term used to describe situations when someone uses
another person’s identity component (s) to commit a criminal act.
While many tend to think of identity theft as “credit”
related, there are multiple types of identity theft
components including but not limited to name, email, phone
number, passport, driver’s license, medical ID number,
birth certificate, death certificate, gym membership,
credit cards, debit cards, brokerage accounts, mortgage
accounts, account statements, deed and titles, student ID,
etc.
Some pieces of identifiable information are more valuable
to an identity thief than others so it is important as a
business owner to understand the differences and identify
which pieces are being created, stored, transferred or
shared at any given time to prevent exposure of customer
and employee personal information.
WHY DO PEOPLE COMMIT FRAUD? There are
three contributing factors that actually “entice” someone
to commit fraud. Opportunity With a lack of checks and
balances or lack of monitoring, the fraudster sees an opportunity to profit from circumstances that he/she
may not have normally considered until the situation presented itself, or, he/she is looking for the “easy” theft.
IE: A cash register that has no management supervision or camera monitoring provides opportunity. Incentive
After the opportunity presents itself, the fraud value is weighted against risk to move one step closer to
action.
Justification Rationalization of the action in the mind of the identity thief seals the deal. For example, “the
business owner makes too much money” or “I deserve it” or “they won’t miss it”. As a business owner, it is
imperative to review systems and evaluate where there may be opportunity given to identity thieves whether
inside or outside the company.
Source: Identity Management Institute
MOMENTUM / April 2017
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