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Casual Articles - Identity Theft - A Growing Problem in the Workplace; an Opportunity for Employers
I have been very fortunate to travel to several countries of the world while on business - countries I may have never visited on a holiday. There are pros and cons to working/doing business in a foreign country vs. visiting as a tourist but I have found it to be very rewarding. I have made many friends, been invited into many colleagues' homes to meet their families, dined on local specialties, and seen all the local attractions (I've been to the Giza pyramids three times - see photo on the right) because business partners are always proud to show you their country. After all, don't we always take visitors to Alberta to the Rocky Mountains? Foreign business delegations traveling to Calgary always schedules time to go to Banff, often timing it to coincide with the weekend.So even though I don't sell a product, I do consider myself an exporter. That is because I am exporting my experience and knowledge - basically I export a service. Many more Canadian service companies (and consul
On June 1, 2005, a new provision of the Fair Access to Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) goes into effect. It says that any employer whose action or inaction results in the loss of employee information can be fined by federal and state government, and sued in civil court. An employee is entitled to recover actual damages sustained if their identity is stolen due to your inaction, or statutory damages up to $1,000 per employee. Employees may also
Getting on back on trackAt this time, we are finished with the basic ‘history’ concerning what has unfolded, and where it has led, and why things have come to be the way they are currently.Moving forward, we are going to be very progressive!!We will be speaking about what to expect in terms of OutXchange cycles as well as what to expect with regards to who will profit, and how much, and why!You have learned much about what caused the slowdown, what it means, and what it generally takes to fix. You have learned WHY it was allowed, and where we are going next.Moving ForwardThe title of this issue is a typical question that appears when folks have generally understood what we have discussed in the previous issues:“Are we assured of getting back on-track? Will another such slowdown happen again anytime in the foreseeable future?”To understand that, we have to remind ourselves of
In 2004, 9.3 million Americans – or one in every 23 adults – were victims of identity theft. The dollar cost impact is gargantuan. Identity theft crimes tallied $52.6 billion in costs in 2004. This amounts to almost $200 for every man, woman, and child in the U.S. In five years, federal officials say people will be more likely to be a victim of this crime than not.
Identity theft wreaks significant damage on its victims. Out of pocket expenses related to identity theft have risen to $1,495, up from $808 in 2002, plus $16,000 in average lost wages. The average recovery time has spiked to 607 hours, up from 175 hours in 2002. While personal liability is low in the majority of cases, 16 percent of victims were forced to pay an average of $6,440 to cover thieves’ purchases. And victims remain vulnerable for the rest of their lives. Identity thieves are likely to use stolen data months or years later.
Online shoppers and banking customers are reducing their cyber activity because of privacy fears. A June survey found 40% of shoppers and 28% of online banking users are cutting back, Gartner said e-commerce revenue growth will slow by 1-3% by 2007 unless customer fears are alleviated. Nearly 40% of the banks participating in the American Banking Association's 2002 survey on fraud ranked identity theft as the No. 1 threat to the banking industry. Over 1 million consumers have been tricked into divulging their personal information to email fraud alone, with financial losses totaling nearly $1 billion. Al-Qaida cells even use identity theft to raise money. Imam Samudra, mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed over 200 people, wrote a jailhouse manifesto about funding terrorism through identity theft and computer fraud.
Despite years of media coverage and frequent dire warnings by consumer protection groups, identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in the United States. Identity theft has been the #1 complaint to the FTC for the last 3 years in a row – by far. Last year, identity theft represented 43% of all the complaints placed with the FTC. There have been at least 104 serious "data incidents" in the US so far in 2005, compromising the records of more than 56.2 million individuals. And a worldwide criminal identity marketplace has now matured. Credit card numbers, SSNs, and other personal data are commonly traded and sold in huge numbers.
Employers Have A Major Stake
The #1 underlying source of identity fraud is theft of employer records. 51% of all identity thefts occur in the workplace; usually perpetrated by people hired to perform low-level tasks, such as data entry. About 90% of business record thefts involve payroll or employment records; only about 10% are customer lists. Most businesses think of client records as the most valuable, but payroll records are more often what's stolen, with increasing frequency.
On June 1, 2005, a new provision of the Fair Access to Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) goes into effect. It says that any employer whose action or inaction results in the loss of employee information can be fined by federal and state government, and sued in civil court. An employee is entitled to recover actual damages sustained if their identity is stolen due to your inaction, or statutory damages up to $1,000 per employee. Employees may also
You could find yourself without health insurance cover in situations like changing jobs, choosing a new long-term insurance plan or waiting for a group insurance policy to become effective. Short-term health insurance is meant to protect you during such breaks. This coverage can also include your spouse and children. Such policies are normally issued for one to six months. They usually cannot be renewed, but most insurance companies allow you to apply for a similar policy when the existing one expires.Coverage becomes effective within 24 hours of submitting the application. However, you can defer the effective date of the policy up to 30 days. The application is a easier process than that of a standard insurance policy. Some insurance companies charge a processing fee of $25.There are certain contingencies that short-term health insurance does not cover. These include per-existing medical conditions(medical problems that have been diagnosed and treated during the previous
Online shoppers and banking customers are reducing their cyber activity because of privacy fears. A June survey found 40% of shoppers and 28% of online banking users are cutting back, Gartner said e-commerce revenue growth will slow by 1-3% by 2007 unless customer fears are alleviated. Nearly 40% of the banks participating in the American Banking Association's 2002 survey on fraud ranked identity theft as the No. 1 threat to the banking industry. Over 1 million consumers have been tricked into divulging their personal information to email fraud alone, with financial losses totaling nearly $1 billion. Al-Qaida cells even use identity theft to raise money. Imam Samudra, mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed over 200 people, wrote a jailhouse manifesto about funding terrorism through identity theft and computer fraud.
Despite years of media coverage and frequent dire warnings by consumer protection groups, identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in the United States. Identity theft has been the #1 complaint to the FTC for the last 3 years in a row – by far. Last year, identity theft represented 43% of all the complaints placed with the FTC. There have been at least 104 serious "data incidents" in the US so far in 2005, compromising the records of more than 56.2 million individuals. And a worldwide criminal identity marketplace has now matured. Credit card numbers, SSNs, and other personal data are commonly traded and sold in huge numbers.
Employers Have A Major Stake
The #1 underlying source of identity fraud is theft of employer records. 51% of all identity thefts occur in the workplace; usually perpetrated by people hired to perform low-level tasks, such as data entry. About 90% of business record thefts involve payroll or employment records; only about 10% are customer lists. Most businesses think of client records as the most valuable, but payroll records are more often what's stolen, with increasing frequency.
On June 1, 2005, a new provision of the Fair Access to Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) goes into effect. It says that any employer whose action or inaction results in the loss of employee information can be fined by federal and state government, and sued in civil court. An employee is entitled to recover actual damages sustained if their identity is stolen due to your inaction, or statutory damages up to $1,000 per employee. Employees may also
Viral marketing can best be described as a marketing campaign that permits you to reach a large number of people quickly online, much in the same way a human cold virus might spread throughout an office complex. The online equivalent of word-of-mouth marketing, viral marketing permits people to pass along marketing material to friends, customers, and colleagues so that the marketing campaign catches on and spreads like wildfire. Because many online distribution channels are free or low cost, viral marketing is possibly the most cost-effective Internet marketing technique out there. Once you've launched your viral marketing campaign, it has the capability grow and spread automatically for years.With a well-thought out and implemented viral marketing campaign, you can:--increase targeted traffic to your site--build brand recognition--increase your link popularity--collect contact information from targeted prospectsTwo of the most common viral mar
Despite years of media coverage and frequent dire warnings by consumer protection groups, identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in the United States. Identity theft has been the #1 complaint to the FTC for the last 3 years in a row – by far. Last year, identity theft represented 43% of all the complaints placed with the FTC. There have been at least 104 serious "data incidents" in the US so far in 2005, compromising the records of more than 56.2 million individuals. And a worldwide criminal identity marketplace has now matured. Credit card numbers, SSNs, and other personal data are commonly traded and sold in huge numbers.
Employers Have A Major Stake
The #1 underlying source of identity fraud is theft of employer records. 51% of all identity thefts occur in the workplace; usually perpetrated by people hired to perform low-level tasks, such as data entry. About 90% of business record thefts involve payroll or employment records; only about 10% are customer lists. Most businesses think of client records as the most valuable, but payroll records are more often what's stolen, with increasing frequency.
On June 1, 2005, a new provision of the Fair Access to Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) goes into effect. It says that any employer whose action or inaction results in the loss of employee information can be fined by federal and state government, and sued in civil court. An employee is entitled to recover actual damages sustained if their identity is stolen due to your inaction, or statutory damages up to $1,000 per employee. Employees may also
If you are new to merchant accounts and the whole ecommerce scene, you are probably confused. I know I was when I started. You start hearing terms like merchant accounts, payment gateways, discount rates, miscellaneous fees, etc. Once I saw the whole puzzle, however, I started to make sense of the pieces. Let's take a very broad look together.There are three main pieces to an ecommerce site: the website and shopping cart, a payment gateway, and a merchant account. The website and shopping cart allows people to shop and place things in their virtual cart. It gives them the information they need to make a purchase. That's the easy part to understand. The hard part comes when we start thinking about the things we don't see. This is especially true when it comes to the payment gateway and merchant account.The payment gateway can be thought of as a broker and a bouncer. They broker the deal between the customer, who is purchasing on your web site, and the merchant acc
Employers Have A Major Stake
The #1 underlying source of identity fraud is theft of employer records. 51% of all identity thefts occur in the workplace; usually perpetrated by people hired to perform low-level tasks, such as data entry. About 90% of business record thefts involve payroll or employment records; only about 10% are customer lists. Most businesses think of client records as the most valuable, but payroll records are more often what's stolen, with increasing frequency.
On June 1, 2005, a new provision of the Fair Access to Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) goes into effect. It says that any employer whose action or inaction results in the loss of employee information can be fined by federal and state government, and sued in civil court. An employee is entitled to recover actual damages sustained if their identity is stolen due to your inaction, or statutory damages up to $1,000 per employee. Employees may also
You may be thinking what does this have to do with jobseeking or finding my dream job. Well, i will tell you. I have always been of the opinion that into today's world or indeed if you are going to be successful in your career you you need to think like a business person. Gone are the days when every aspect of our lives were centralised, in the olden days our forefathers thought like business people. They went out to the farm and had to be independent, catering for themselves and their family.It was later on that we saw the advent of the social state where people became more dependent, and this in some ways has led to people not being able to look after themselves or their families, always looking out to someone else for a helping hand. There is nothing wrong in seeking help, but it has to be for the right reasons, and not to make you even more dependent. All good entrepreneurs have mentors but the focus is different, it is about helping business people to be better and not depen
On June 1, 2005, a new provision of the Fair Access to Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) goes into effect. It says that any employer whose action or inaction results in the loss of employee information can be fined by federal and state government, and sued in civil court. An employee is entitled to recover actual damages sustained if their identity is stolen due to your inaction, or statutory damages up to $1,000 per employee. Employees may also bring class-action suits against employers for actual and punitive damages. In addition, federal fines of up to $2500 per employee, and state fines of up to $1000 per employee may also be levied.
A recent case in Michigan highlights another source of corporate liability. In the 2005 case of Audrey Bell et al vs. AFSME AFL-CIO Local 1023, the Michigan Appeals Court affirmed a jury award of $275,000 to AFSME members who had sued the union for failing to safeguard its members' SSNs. It recognized a “special relationship” between the union and its employees, including a duty to protect them from identity theft by providing safeguards to ensure the security of their "most essential confidential identifying information, information which could be easily used to appropriate a person's identity.
The Bell case has national implications for employers. Arizona, California, Illinois, Texas, and other states have statutes that require an employer to restrict the use and disclosure of SSNs. While not as broad as Michigan's, they support the view that a "special relationship" exists between an employer and an employee whose data is stolen from the employer to commit identity theft. Even in jurisdictions with no statutes restricting employers’ use or disclosure of empoyee SSNs, the tide of legislation on identity theft may be sufficient to support a finding of the necessary “special relationship”. The Wall Street Journal recently predicted that there will be a flood of lawsuits by both consumers and businesses because of identity theft issues.
Employers also suffer other significant costs when their employees experience identity theft. Conservative calculations based on recent reports indicate that an employer with 1000 employees, who make an average of $40,000 salary per year, can expect to incur costs of well over $600,000 per year. Identity theft also threatens enterprise security, enabling corporate espionage and fraud, and theft of hard assets and intellectual property. Large scale or frequent identity thefts also results in significant negative publicity, impacting sales, partnerships, and employee recruiting and retention.
Protection As An Employee Benefit
The only solution that provides an affirmative defense against potential fines, fees, and lawsuits is to offer some sort of Identity Theft protection as an employee benefit. An employer can choose whether or not to pay for this benefit. The key is to make the protection available, and have a mandatory employee meeting on Identity Theft and the protection you are making available, similar to what you probably do for health insurance. They may either elect or decline to have identity theft cove
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