How Can Employees Be Trained to Report Identity Theft?

Employees are at the risk of losing both their personal data as well as that of the organizations’ and can be subjected to damages on both fronts. Businesses today are waking up to the call of cyber safety and are orienting their employees to detect and report identity theft, at the right moment. Irrespective of the nature of business, size of organization and geography of operations, the organizations must prepare their employees towards upkeep of cyber hygiene, at work.

Internet scam prevention training to report identity theft

In order to report identity theft, employees must be aware of the circumstances when they must act on vigil. A basic internet scam prevention workshop must cover:

• Email protection and safety, protection of passwords and other confidential information
• Familiarization of whaling frauds and CEO scams, where a simple identity theft of the name and email id of the employee can help scammers misrepresent their senior officials
• Coordination with the IT infrastructure and technology department for data encryption, malware detection and back-up of confidential data
• Developing alertness against phishing mails that can lead to identity theft and financial fraud. Employees must double check mails from the IRS, banks and other authorities before responding.

Various ways to report identity theft

In the corporate scenario, bureaucracy may delay the attempt to report identity theft, which will work very well for scammers. Many organizations have embedded objective tools to report identity theft without any delay:

• A whistle blower forum that protects the identity of the complainant will help employees to report suspicious activity of their peers, superiors without apprehension
• Employees can report identity theft directly to banks and financial institutions in case of data hijacking of sensitive data, in order to effect an immediate freeze on financial accounts
• The business must either outsource or build a contingency team for malware detection and incident response to hacking attempts for identity theft
• Top executives in charge of financial accounts must get their computers and mobile devices regularly checked for malware

Taxation time proactiveness for employees

The notorious W2 scams and online taxation frauds are offshoots of identity fraud. Employees must proceed to report identity theft when the following events occur during taxation time:

• There are phishing mails attempting to get hold of W2, which contains valuable personal identity information, including social security number, salaries and tax amounts withheld.
• In case of HR executives, taxation time is time for vigil and alertness, since the taxation records of employees must be protected from identity theft
• Employees must be trained to ascertain the authenticity of software used for self e-filing of tax returns
• Any query from IRS, regarding suspicious tax return filed, must ring warning bells to report identity theft
• In addition to employees, the business itself is under phishing attacks during taxation time. Scammers may mislead the finance executives by email spoofing of IRS, citing query, refund procedure etc. and may try to elicit confidential details.

Employees must be trained to report identity theft in all the above cases, to ensure personal and organizational internet security.

When to Report Identity Theft

Knowing when to report identity theft is a crucial factor in addressing this fraudulent scheme. Many victims often incur bigger losses due to identity theft because they missed their chance to report the scam on time. Regularly monitoring your statements and bills allows you to immediately identify the issue and report identity theft in good time. 

One of the reasons why fraudsters who commit identity theft go out of their way using various tactics to obtain your personal and financial information is because they want to evade suspicion. These fraudsters want to obtain your information without revealing their true intention against you so they can buy more time. The more time the fraudster has, the more profits they can generate using your information. To give an idea when the best time is to report identity theft, see the details below:

Best Time to Report Identity Theft

●     Regularly checking your credit card statements allows you to monitor any unauthorized purchases or transactions. These unauthorized purchases are the key indicators that someone might be using your credit card information, which means that you are a victim of identity theft. The best time to report identity theft in this situation is as soon as you discover the malicious transactions.

●     When you go to a government establishment to claim your benefits, only to find out that somebody else is already claiming it for you. This too is another form of identity theft. Somebody else is using your personal information so they can get money from the government. As soon as you learn about this incident, you must immediately report the incident to authorities, so they can find out how else the fraudsters are taking advantage of your information and put all these malicious activities to stop.

●     Getting invoices or other forms of billing for items that you didn’t buy or receive. Usually fraudsters who obtain your information may use your credential to place valuable purchases. They usually have items delivered to their P.O box in order to evade detection. However, the billing for this item will still be shipped directly to you since they are charged under your name. This is a common scheme utilized by fraudster who commit identity theft. You must report identity theft immediately before your bills from the unauthorized purchases begin to pile up. 

●     Being declined from availing a financial service despite having a good credit standing. There are many instances when victims of identity theft, only learned that fraudsters have been illegally using their identity to obtain a credit card, after their application for a loan or a new credit line has been declined. To prevent this you may request for a credit report from the credit bureau on a regular basis. This will reveal any hidden credit cards or loans that are under your name. The best time to report identity theft of this kind is as soon as you secure the proof from the credit bureau.

The details provided above are the best times when to report identity theft.

Report Identity Theft to Financial Anti-Fraud Agencies

Scammers resort to a number of means to dupe people into revealing confidential information. These scammers then use this data to carry out identity theft. As such, the impact these scams will leave on one’s finances is inevitable. 

The Governments of various countries have established specialized financial fraud prevention agencies that take cognizance of financial fraud. Identity theft is the tip of the iceberg that lead victims on to major financial scandals.

Report identity theft to StopFraud.Gov

The citizens of the USA are extended cover against financial frauds by the setting up of s series of specialized task forces by the Government. The highlights of the anti-fraud machinery include:

●  The financial fraud enforcement task force has under its purview, a full-fledged task force inquiring into bank fraud, mortgage fraud, money laundering, unfair trade practices, wire fraud and tax crimes, all which invariably arise from identity theft

●  Informing people on novel types of identity theft by way of phishing mails, messages and calls

●  Guiding people in detecting the right moment to report identity theft before the same becomes identity fraud

●  Informative and user-friendly website with online forms to download in order to report identity theft along with educative tips on the same.

Reporting identity theft to Police

In any case of identity theft, a police complaint is required to be filed with the concerned agency as a ground that strengthens criminal investigation. To report identity theft to any anti –fraud agency or the Government, there is a requirement for a police complaint. Some procedures that victims may have to undergo, when they report identity theft to police include:

●     Getting an identity theft police report will require lodging a complaint in the prescribed format to local police

●  Professional help of attorneys is needed depending on nature and magnitude of crime

●   Laws differ from country to country. The State police, the cyber Police, the County Police Department, etc. may be approached. Government has enacted strict measures to encourage prompt filing of complaints and issue of reports by police.

●  Obtaining an Identity theft Police Report and filing of complaint with corresponding government agencies is mandatory

●  Filing of identity theft complaints with the Police Departments of the correct jurisdiction will enable faster processing of complaints and issue of report

The Police Department is extended specialized training to handle cybercrime. In many cases, they operate in collaboration with Government.

Partnership of Action Fraud and London Police

To report identity theft in the UK, the easiest means is to approach Action Fraud. The organization works closely with the London Police and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. 

●     A unique system called Know Fraud is deployed by Action Fraud, which is an advanced intelligence framework that is able to observe patterns and link dots between various types of crimes.

●    Reviewers and Analysts of Action Fraud scrutinize every initiative by public to report identity theft and overview the best possible way inquiry can be channelized. Accordingly, the victim is directed to the most effective agency to take up further investigation and offer relief in the short run.