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PRESS RELEASE
The Integrity News
"objective risk management news"
Vol. XV No. 3
ISSN 1081-2717

May 25, 2006 


Wall Street Journal
May 24, 2006  


Employers Offer Help
Fighting ID Theft



As security breaches proliferate, a new benefit
for employees aims to cut the time that they
spend at work restoring their private records.


"As identity theft continues to claim millions of victims, a growing number of employers are offering to help affected workers pick up the pieces."

"Companies have recently been signing up for identity theft resolution services to offer their employees as a workplace benefit.   The companies say the service can  reduce the time employees spend during work hours filing reports and talking with creditors to resolve the problems created by identity theft."

"A recent survey of human resource managers found that 2% of employers currently offer identity theft services as a workplace benefit, and a further 4.6% said they expected to offer it in the near future."

"Security and insurance experts say the interest also stems from concern among employers that they might face liability for personal data they have put at risk.   By offering employees recovery assistance, companies hope to head off possible lawsuits."

Ed: This is yet another reason to make absolutely sure that you have a signed Authorization and Release of Liability from every employee.

This past week, 26.5 million sets of personal data  from the Department of Veterans Affairs, including Social Security Numbers of the veterans and some of their spouses, were stolen from an employee laptop.

Ed: Review your policies regarding what you allow employees to take home on a laptop or other device.

"The lapse brings to more than 80 million the number of identities since early 2005 that have been put at risk through such data breaches."   "The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found in a 2003 study that 27.3 million Americans had been victims of some type of identity theft in the previous five years."   That shows how the pace of identity theft is accelerating.   Do the math.   This problem effects 50% of the U.S. working population.

"Broadly defined, identity theft includes the un- authorized use of another person's credit card or bank accounts.   But the worst type of crime involves using the name, birth date, and SSN of a victim to open fraudulent accounts or obtain benefits under false pretenses."

Ed: the WSJ did not mention the Darkest Side of  Identity Theft --- having someone commit a felony  using your identity.   That is almost impossible to  correct.

"For identity theft victims, fixing the problem can be time consuming and exasperating.   One in five households spent at least a month resolving the problem, according to a survey released by the Department of Justice last month."   "Many victims fall prey again later because stolen data are often resold in the black market."

"Identity theft resolution services range from companies that mostly advise employees on how  to clean up the mess themselves, to those that obtain a limited power-of-attorney, and go to bat  for the victim with creditors and credit bureaus."

Numerous services are mentioned in the article, and their fees range from $5.00 to $180.00 per year per employee.

If employees feel threatened by identity theft, they should be advised to do the following:

    "Place fraud alerts with the three major credit bureaus.

    Review the bureaus' credit reports and contact creditors
about any problems.

    If you are a victim of identity theft, file a police report
and a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

    Get FREE Counseling for identity theft victims from
non-profit groups.   Or, pay a fee to a Private company
to assist with ID theft resolution."

Companies and individuals can also find free information about
how to prevent and resolve identity thefts at the FTC web site.

If you would like to discuss any of the above procedures, get the phone numbers or web addresses of the three major credit bureaus, or get the names of the identity theft resolution services from this article, call  The Integrity Center, Inc.   at   (972) 484-6140.   Helping you with your Risk Management and HR Automation is what we do.


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