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… on the rise since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Northeast Ohio: Starbucks job applications used in identity theft

CLEVELAND — We’ve heard identity theft  cases involving dumpster dives, over the shoulder wandering eyes in the checkout line, and even toddlers targeted for their personal information.

The U.S. Attorney has an indictment against a woman that allegedly stole from the unemployed. Information was lifted from where they’re most vulnerable — job applications.

For Hyde …

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If you need a good example of why it is a good idea to conduct employment background checks, look no further.  A former Texas loan officer faces two charges of identity theft because he used clients’ personally identifiable information (social security numbers and dates of birth) to obtain loans.  If the employer would have conducted a criminal background check, they would have realized that this person had been convicted of burglary in 1982.  He also faced multiple charges of for DUI, theft by check and unlawfully carrying a weapon.  A credit check might also have revealed some interesting information worthy of consideration.

This kind of thing happens every day.  What I find interesting is that this didn’t take place at a larger national institution.  It happened at a small community currency exchange near Austin, Texas.  Nobody was assaulted or killed, but they were victims of identity theft, of which the affects can be felt for years.  Criminal activity does not discriminate.  In fact, those who seek to commit such crimes pray on smaller business because they know larger institutions are actually going to conduct background checks.  There is no way this company would have hired this guy if they knew about his past.  Now, they suffered financial loss, loss of reputation and are sure to find themselves involved in litigation from their customers.

It would be nice if the EEOC recognized stories such as these and spent time worrying about the victims of these crimes instead of protecting those who commit them.

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Now why didn’t I see this one coming?  The Atlanta Journal Constitution published an article today about young people being denied employment after a background check reveals problems on their credit report.  What’s worse? It was their beloved parents who committed identity theft and caused the problem.  Check out this story below.

Child Identity Theft Increases- Atlanta Journal Constitution

Many face credit troubles at the hands of family members being dashed because they are unwitting victims of identity theft at the hands of someone they know, usually their parents.

It often happens when victims are too young to do anything about it, so it’s a crime that can go undetected for years.

A parent or other relative uses a child’s personal information, including Social Security number, to get a credit card, loan or other account with a clean credit record. That’s identity fraud in Georgia.

When the child enters the business and financial world as an adult, he encounters debt he knows nothing about

“They won’t be able to get a credit card. Or if the debt owed is disproportionate to their earnings, then they can’t get loans. It’s difficult to get a car,” said Michelle Jones, senior vice president of counseling for CredAbility. The Atlanta-based nonprofit, provides credit counseling and education across the Southeast.

“And when you are applying for car insurance or applying for a job, people look at your credit score. The worst case scenario … you have a young adult who is facing filing for bankruptcy on a debt that they never personally incurred,” Jones said.

The Federal Trade Commission’s figures on identity theft show Georgia ranking seventh nationwide for the highest number of complaints over the last three years. FTC breakdowns by age show about a quarter of the complaints come from 20- to 29-year-olds. But there’s no way to say how many are from parent identity theft.

Georgia Office of Consumer Affairs spokesman Bill Cloud believes cases of child identity theft have multiplied substantially in the last few years. Identity theft is a felony in Georgia.

“It’s a growing problem,” said Cloud, who said about 3 percent of identity theft victims in 2003 were children. That number increased to about 5 percent in 2006.

They do provide some advice for those who think their identity has been stolen.

• Check credit files. Minor children shouldn’t have credit files unless their information has been pilfered.
• Each credit bureau has its own procedure. For TransUnion: send an e-mail to childidtheft@transunion.com with relevant identifying information, and the company will confirm if it has a file. For Experian: visit www.experian.com/fraud or call 1-800-311-4769. For both these agencies and Equifax, follow these instructions on what to send to order a child’s report: bit.ly/aDFTi1
• Adults can order their own copies from Experian, TransUnion and Equifax through www.annualcreditreport.com , the federally-created Web site that allows free reports once a year.
• File a police report using the information from your credit reports as evidence. Victims can provide a printed copy of the Federal Trade Commission’s Universal Complaint Form to the law enforcement agency to incorporate into the police report. Find the form online: bit.ly/bN25VL
• Call all companies or collection agencies listed on your credit report that you haven’t personally opened. Ask them to send you a copy of the application and transaction records. You must send a police report with this request.
• If you have a police report listing all the fraudulent accounts, the credit bureaus must block the fraudulent accounts from your credit reports within 30 days.

Job seekers are also encouraged to conduct a personal background check on themselves at sites like TransparentMe.com

View Full Article

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The FTC’s “Red Flag” mandate to curb identity theft was set to take effect today, June 1, 2010, a year and a half after the original policy was to be enforced. Creditors and Financial Institutions were to develop and implement a written Identity Theft Prevention Program.  This time at the 12th hour, it was announced that they will again delay enforcement until December 31, 2010.

According to the FTC, “Congress needs to fix the unintended consequences of the legislation establishing the Red Flags Rule – and to fix this problem quickly. We appreciate the efforts of Congressmen Barney Frank and John Adler for getting a clarifying measure passed in the House, and hope action in the Senate will be swift,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said. “As an agency we’re charged with enforcing the law, and endless extensions delay enforcement.”

According to the FTC, “The Rule was promulgated under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, in which Congress directed the Commission and other agencies to develop regulations requiring ‘creditors’ and ‘financial institutions’ to address the risk of identity theft. The resulting Red Flags Rule requires all such entities that have ‘covered accounts’ to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs to help identify, detect, and respond to patterns, practices, or specific activities – known as ‘red flags’ – that could indicate identity theft.”

Full FTC Release

Further, all employers that conduct background checks are supposed to have a policy in place to handle “Red Flag” Address Discrepancy Notifications from the National Consumer Reporting Agencies (mainly credit bureaus). This rule has been in effect since November, 2009 and we are still unclear what such notifications will look like when and if they occur.

For more information on these guidelines and how to comply check out:

FTC Delays Red Flags Rules Again . . . and Again

Users of Consumer Reports Have New Responsibilities as of November 1
EmployeeScreenIQ Offers Free Webinar on New FTC Guidelines

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Courts in the state of Missouri have have proposed a rule that would remove personal identifiers such as Social Security Numbers and Dates of Birth from public records. “Court Operating Rule #2″ is most likely an effort to mitigate the opportunity for identity theft, but there is an unintended consequence that is not being considered. This measure would be an insurmountable set-back to any organization who conducts criminal background checks on potential job candidates. If the courts destroy these records, employers have no way of being assured that they can perform thorough due diligence on their candidates.

There is still plenty of time to influence law makers in Missouri and I am certain that the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) will lead the efforts to educate them. Those that are interested in getting involved can send a letter to Catherine Zacharias, General Counsel, State Judicial Records Committee.

We’ll pass more along information on this as soon as it becomes available.

NAPBS has been very successful educating public officials when similar bills are introduced. See examples below of these efforts. In each instance, the measure was defeated.

New Mexico House Bill 103 Threatens Employment Background Checks
Rhode Island Legislators Approve Bill to Destroy Criminal Records
Massachusetts Proposes Redaction of Personal Identifiers: Bad News for Employment Screening
Oklahoma Supreme Court Reverses Itself on the Removal of Identifiers

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This story out of the Palm Beach Post caught my eye because it involves so many warning signs that an employer missed or failed to follow up on and ultimately resulted in disaster.  Erika Morales showed up for her first day of work at a medical supply company with an electronic monitoring device courtesy of Palm Beach county.  When asked, she said that she needed to resolve a domestic issue.  The employer never followed up.  Ms. Morales was given access to the personal information of hundreds of clients and in turn used that information to commit identity theft and steal from them.

She is now in jail and charged with 25 counts of identity theft.  See story.

Here’s what we learned in the wash.  The employer says that they conducted an employment background check.  Of course the first signal that perhaps the check was flawed would have been the lovely jewelry she wore around her ankle.  Here’s what they missed:

• If they would have conducted employment verifications or professional reference interviews they could have known this from her past employers:
  • • Walmart: stole two $500 gift cards.
    • Yellow Cab: stole more than $4,000 by logging phony trips and running customers’ credit cards more than once.
    • Kauff’s Towing: stole about $2,500. Prosecutors declined to prosecute.
• If the would have run a credit report, they would have seen that she had over $78,000 of liens and judgments against her.
• And then to 6 arrests for fraud and a two year stint in prison that might have been revealed if a proper criminal background check was completed

Who know how much this will cost her employer or how badly their reputation has been damaged.  It could have been avoided with an inexpensive, but thorough employment background check.

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You know Toucan Sam of Fruit Loops fame  might have been on to something years ago when he coined the famous phrase, “Follow the nose, it always knows!”  Scientists from the University of Bath in the UK are using the most prominent feature on an individual’s face, their nose,  as a way to confirm their identity through facial recognition software.

Of course the author of the article,  Software Sniffs Out Criminals by the Shape of Their Nose, didn’t do his work justice by conjuring up images of some Aryan Brotherhood experiment with his title.  However, if you look further, it’s an interesting concept.  Is this setting the stage for background checks and employment screening being conducted by looking at a person’s schnozola?

Software Sniffs Out Criminals by the Shape of Their Nose

With worries about illegal immigration and identity theft, authorities are increasingly looking to using an individual’s physical characteristics, known as biometrics, to confirm their identity.

Unlike other facial features used for biometrics, such as eyes or ears, noses are difficult to conceal and also aren’t changed much by facial expression.

Dr Adrian Evans and Adrian Moorhouse, from the University’s Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, decided to investigate whether images of people’s noses could be used to recognise individuals.

They used a photographic system called PhotoFace (http://www.uwe.ac.uk/cems/research/groups/mvl/index.shtml), developed by researchers at the University of the West of England in Bristol, to scan the 3D shape of volunteers’ noses and used computer software to analyse them according to six main nose shapes: Roman, Greek, Nubian, Hawk, Snub and Turn-up.

Instead of using the whole shape of the nose, the researchers used three characteristics in their analysis: the ridge profile, the nose tip, and the nasion or section between the eyes at the top of the nose.

They combined the curvature of the ridge with the ratios of the tip and nasion widths and ridge length. This combined ratio was then used to distinguish between a database of 36 people.

More

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New online service equips job-seekers to screen themselves and uncover any potential negative history ahead of potential employers

Cleveland, Ohio (PRWEB) February 17, 2010 — With the release of TransparentMe, job-seekers can discover any skeletons in their closet before a potential employer does.

The public records provider allows candidates to perform an online criminal background check on themselves in a matter of days or even minutes – revealing any negative information that could keep them from landing their next job. With identity theft on the rise, the service can also serve as an alarm that one’s identity has been compromised.

“In today’s hyper-competitive job market, a background check can make the difference between landing a dream job or being cast aside in favor of someone else,” said Jason B. Morris, co-founder and principal. “TransparentMe equips a job seeker with information so they can be proactive with a potential employer instead of defensive.”

“More companies than ever are conducting background checks on their job candidates – as many as 85 percent of all employers,” said Nick Fishman, co-founder and principal. “Also, identity theft is forcing candidates to find out the hard way that their character and personal information has been tainted. TransparentMe arms people with knowledge so they can avoid unpleasant surprises that might impact their future career.”

The service is offered in three package levels: Basic ($19.95), Enhanced ($34.95), and Comprehensive ($69.95). All levels provide the following three services:

- Identity Verification – This search conducts a social security number trace, ensuring that an individual’s number isn’t being used by anyone else. The trace also provides a history of addresses where a customer has applied for credit. Most employers use this type of search as a roadmap to determine which court jurisdictions should be researched for criminal records and what names to check.

- National Criminal Records Database Search – A search of databases that comprise millions of records from various sources in the United States. These records are obtained by commercial vendors from several different sources including: County Court Houses, State Departments of Incarcerations, State Record Repositories, Probation Departments and Townships.

- National Sex Offender Registry Search – This multi-state database search provides sex offender case information in an easy-to-read report. Extensive search capabilities will check registered sex offender data sources nationwide, including: Bureaus of Investigation, Departments of Law Enforcement, Departments of Corrections, Departments of Justice, Departments of Public Safety, Sheriff’s Departments, State Attorney General’s Offices and state police agencies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Basic level results are available within minutes. The Enhanced level includes the above services as well as the following searches:

- Current County of Residence Criminal Records Search: An on-site manual search of the superior, upper, lower, and/or municipal court records in the user’s current county of residence. A national network of professional court researchers covers all 3,500+ county court jurisdictions and will indicate if a subject has a felony, misdemeanor and possibly an infraction filing within the last seven years or longer.

- Homeland Security Search: This security check cross-references the user’s name against more than 14 worldwide known terrorist and fugitive databases that include individuals, organizations and companies considered a threat to global and national security. The Homeland Security Check database is updated daily as various lists are modified.

Results for the Enhanced and Comprehensive levels are available in one to four days. The Comprehensive level includes all five services above, but also allows users to conduct a criminal records search in up to five counties across the country.

Add on services such as Employment Verifications, Education Verifications, Reference Interviews and Professional License Verifications are available on all of the above packages.

About TransparentMe
TransparentMe is a public records provider that allows job candidates to gain a competitive edge in finding the perfect job, through self-administered background checks. Our approach is simple: provide clients with the peace of mind that there won’t be any surprises when prospective employers conduct their own due diligence. For more information, contact: www.transparentme.com.

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It is indeed a rare day when I will applaud legislation that aims to restrict those who provide employment background checks. We’ve just learned that the California legislature has introducedSenate Bill 909 which would mandate that a background screener “that prepares or processes in any manner an investigative consumer report, or portion thereof, outside of the United States or its territories to make specified disclosures to the potential user of this information, including, but not limited to, the country or countries where the report, or portion thereof, will be prepared or processed. The bill would also prohibit an investigative consumer reporting agency from transmitting a consumer’s social security number, except for the last 4 digits, outside of the United States or its territories.”

I support this bill because as an industry, we have an obligation to protect both our clients and their employees, and or prospective employees.  Identity theft is rampant in our society today and we all strive to ensure that the personal information that is provided to us in order to conduct a background check is held in the strictest of confidence.

There are some in our industry that choose to off-shore this information because let’s face it, it’s cheaper than paying someone to do it stateside.  Of course, once the information leaves the direct control of the screening company, what could happen next is anyone’s guess.

This law would obligate companies that off-shore this information to disclose that fact.  According to the bill, it would also, ”prohibit an investigative consumer reporting agency from transmitting a consumer’s social security number, except for the last 4 digits, outside of the United States or its territories. The bill would require these agencies to adopt and publish a privacy policy relating to information contained in reports that are prepared or processed outside of the United States, as specified. The bill would provide that an investigative consumer reporting agency is liable to a consumer who is harmed by any act or omission that occurs outside the United States or its territories, as specified.

Lastly, it is important to note that this bill exempts these requirements for those conducting background checks on individuals that live outside of the United States.

This bill is a win/win for employers and consumers.  We know that this effort will not be popular with those in our industry engaged in this practice, but it is efforts like these that will ultimately benefit the industry at-large.  We hope that it passes and would like to see similar legislation on a federal level.

Read the California SB909

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As many of you know we have done quite a bit over the years with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).  Not only have we exhibited at many of their conferences but we have also had their Chief Operating Officer China Gorman participate in podcasts.  In addition we have been invited to speak at several of their chapter conferences and even the Staffing Management Conference last April.

I was honored when they asked me to participate in a video series they were conducting.  In the interview they asked many great questions including topics relating to Background Screening, Identity Theft, E-Verify and Post Employment Screening.

You must be a member to view the video’s and I encourage you to do so!  This particular clip focuses on Identity Theft and Employment Screening.

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