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Identity Theft PreventionI.D. Theft – Not Just Personal ProblemCopus CasesBy Harold Copus, Family Business Security ExpertThe Case In PointIdentity theft prevention was the focus recently when a business discovered that someone was cashing unauthorized company checks all over the country. Our firm was hired to investigate and we pinpointed the culprit, a very clever mailroom employee. His method was simple. First, he stole a company-issued check, scanned it and mailed out the original so no one would be suspicious. Using the scanned copy, he proceeded to create a multitude of checks, and through a network “cashed” them in around the country for a total of over $400,000. Some checks actually cleared the client’s bank account. Most did not, but still they had been cashed.Working with the client, local police, Secret Service and Postal Inspectors, a search warrant was obtained for the residence of the employee. The residence contained internal customer data of the client, a check from one of those customers that was in the process of being copied, and a duplicate postage meter. This guy was about to make this his fulltime business. The FactsWe hear a lot about personal ID theft, but companies face the same issues. Anyone having access to a company check can copy it and get into your business account. Identity theft prevention means that access to company checks has to be limited. Exposure can come about in many ways including mailrooms, bookkeepers or even the cleaning crew. Once a thief gets his hands on a check, he has the ban routing number, account number and the check sequence. All he has to do then is copy or scan the check to create his own “original.”Often times, accounting departments will have a notice printed on the check that two signatures are required over a certain dollar amount. That’s no problem for the I.D. thief, who now knows that if he makes the check out for less than that amount, he will only have to forge one signature! The Security SolutionThere are several forms of identity theft prevention to combat this type of checkbook I.D. theft. If you can afford it, institute Positive Pay with your bank. It can be cost prohibitive for smaller companies. All companies, however, should have their check stock reviewed by a security professional. Often, additional security features can be added to a check to preclude tampering by a thief. In the case above, many internal procedures were modified including a complete rework of the check stock.Case closed.
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