Holiday Temps Increase Identity Theft Risks
By Robert Siciliano, ID Theft Expert and Security Consultant to Intelius.com
This is the absolute best time of the year to be a dishonest temporary worker.
Holiday hustle and bustle overwhelms managers and supervisors and they can’t possibly see everything their employees are doing.
It has been said that only 10 percent of employees are honest, 10 percent of employees will always steal, and 80 percent will steal based on circumstances.
Hiring temps during the holidays becomes the perfect storm for employee theft.
Estimates reveal that 40-50 percent of all business losses are due to employee theft.
Employers need to first vet out potential hires so as not to invite a thief into the workplace.
Prescreening
- Use prescreening services; Otherwise become a master interviewer. Look for incongruence.
- Resumes are often “false advertising” and outright lies, look for red-flags and exaggerations.
- Appearance is telling. Someone who is disheveled and unkempt is a sign of character.
- Interviewees who are well-spoken and ace the interview process may have had lots and lots of jobs.
- Use employment applications: check and verify everything.
- Background checks are only one small part of the screening process. But necessary.
- Criminal records checks are insufficient and do not detect employee theft unless prosecuted and convicted.
- Juvenile convictions do not show on a criminal records check.
- Drug and alcohol testing .
- Reference checks.
- Credit reports.
- Physical exams.
Hire honest people.
Honest people live by the golden rule, “do as to others…”. Honest people see stealing as demeaning. Honest people believe in karma, that if they steal then someone will steal from me. Honest people are well thought out and think of the consequences of their actions over a lifetime, not just in the moment. Hire honest people.
Perception is reality.
Assume after an “honest” person is hired the stealing begins. Orientation is the first place to discourage this behavior. Policies must be openly discussed.
Employees are shown aspects of loss prevention and physical security in place. They are further told incidences of theft will be prosecuted under the fullest extent of the law.
They are reminded that previous employees were caught and the expenses in fines and to lawyers in a criminal defense cost far more than the goods or cash that were stolen.
In Singapore, Iran, Saudi Arabia, they put an average of 500 people a year to death for various non-violent crimes.
That’s perception equaling reality.
Understand the Theft Probability Equation. Chance of getting caught + consequences of action taken = Level of risk & probability of theft.
- Low risk: high probability of theft
- High risk: low probability of theft
- A reputation for non-action breeds theft. If you fire thieves without prosecution, you will hire thieves in the future.
Increase technology to reduce threats.
Computer World points out to bolster physical security around temporary cash registers and handheld scanners. It’s easy to install a card-skimming device on a satellite register. Install additional video cameras to monitor the use of such devices.
Review log data daily. System and transaction logs can reveal a lot of information about the security of a payment system. Check them daily for red flags.
Implement “hard” firewall policies. Use a white list of known good addresses to preclude the possibility of card and payment data going anywhere outside the enterprise firewall except to your payment processor.
For your own good, protect your identity. Get a credit freeze. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit.
In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief.
Broadcast Radio Sponsored by Intelius.com
Anyone who has the opportunity work a job they love and spend their days helping others is fortunate. For me its helping people protect themselves from violence and theft in the physical and virtual worlds.
Helping me, help others is Intelius.com. Intelius is an information commerce company. They provide consumers and businesses with predictive intelligence for important everyday decisions. Their customers use Intelius to make choices about people, businesses and assets.
The following spots are examples of getting the word out to empower people to secure their personal security.
- Montel Williams. Montel Accross America Audio HERE
- Lori Wilk: Identity Theft What You Need To Know Audio HERE
- Fox KURV McAllen, TX Audio HERE
- Fox WHJJ Providence, RI Audio HERE
- Fox KFTK St. Louis, MO Audio HERE
- Fox WREC Memphis, TN Audio HERE
- KIDO Boise, ID Audio HERE
- Fox WTAG Worcester, MA Audio HERE
- KOA Denver, CO Audio HERE
- KPAY Chico, CA Audio HERE
Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft protection can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. “Disclosures”
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Robert Siciliano is an expert on personal security and identity theft as the CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com. An American television news correspondent, security analyst, and author of “The Safety Minute: How to take control of your personal security and prevent fraud”. Featured on the The Today Show, CBS Early Show, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, CNBC, Inside Edition, EXTRA, Tyra Banks, Stern, and in USA Today, Forbes, Tech Republic, SC, CSO, Search Security, Tech News World, EWeek, SecurityInfoWatch, NY Times, Boston Globe, LA Times, Wash Post, Chicago Tribune, AP, UPI, Reuters, and Entrepreneur.
The Publisher gives permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author and to Information-Security-Resources.com
Filed under: Breach, D&O Liability, FEATURE ARTICLE, Financial, Insider Threat, Robert Siciliano, Sarbanes-Oxley, Uncategorized, due diligence, hackers, identity-theft, malware, national security, privacy
Comments
One Comment on Holiday Temps Increase Identity Theft Risks
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Michael Bacon on
Tue, 8th Dec 2009 12:30 pm
It’s not just holiday temps that pose a threat, and pre-employment vetting won’t screen out the opportunist thief. I had the experience of a ‘temp’ copying down an address on an envelope he was handling … that of a well-known footballer with a ’spicy’ wife.
The detective ‘control’ in this instance was the “Stasi” one … i.e., a colleague reported the incident to their manager.
Appearance can be misleading (even at the interview stage). A thief might well dress for the occasion (brown coat for a warehouse, white coat for a hospital, grey suit for an office) … although one thief in my experience gave himself away by the gold designer shoes he wore with a blue suit. I recall a story told to be by a senior sales manager at Jack Barclay (RR and Bentley showroom in London, UK). An wild-haired, eccentrically-dressed individual entered the showroom one day and was rapidly ushered out by an over-enthusiastic junior salesman. Fortunately, the Marquis of Bath saw the funny side of it!
The most effective control is the “Mad-Eye Moody” one of “Constant Vigilance”.
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