NPR did a great story on business identity theft, saying, “Business identity theft takes many forms. Posing as a look-alike or sound-alike business to lure customers is one of them. But in many cases, shady operators go after information to tap into business’ credit and reputation. They change a business’s contact information, for example, then use it to obtain credit cards or order goods, skipping town before bills arrive.â€
However, most business owners are oblivious to the risks, and business ID theft victims don’t know where to turn for information and assistance.
In response to this, the National Association of Secretaries of State and the Identity Theft Protection Association collaborated to create BusinessIDTheft.org. The website is designed to educate businesses and business owners about business identity theft, help them to manage and reduce their risks, and to provide assistance to victims of business identity theft crimes.
Education on the myriad of business ID theft schemes is provided - from fraudulent filings to cyber crime. There are also resource pages that provide state-specific information and resources for every U.S. state and territory. The state resource pages were developed with input from the secretaries of state and/or the state commercial administrators.
The website’s business identity theft protection kit is a list of things you can do to keep your business safe and something you definitely ought to review. The list includes:
- How to protect your business bank accounts from fraud
- How to protect your business information and identifiers
- How to protect your credit
- How to protect your computers and network
- How to avoid being burned on fraudulent orders
And there’s a lot more. There are some great resources on the website and we at SmallBizTechnology.com strongly encourage you to check it out.
Let us know if you’ve had experiences with business ID theft, and how you dealt with it, in the comments.
