Identity fraud becoming rife
Peter Stackpole, Picture by Sam Ruttyn.
Australian businesses should conduct background checks on potential employees in order to minimise their risk of falling victim to identity fraud. This is the advice from Australia's largest background-screening provider, First Advantage, which believes thousands of workers are committing the crime each year as a result of their gambling addictions.
Identity theft - using the name of another person or business illegally to obtain credit - is one of the country's fastest-growing crimes.
Although the term is relatively new, the impact of identity theft on businesses is severe, with results often including ruined credit ratings and damaged reputations within the corporate sector.
First Advantage's managing director for Asia Pacific, Peter Stackpole,
said it was for this reason companies must thoroughly check each
job-seeker's background.
"Fraud in the workplace costs Australian businesses more than $77.5 million each year and often this is due to offenders seeking money for gambling," he said, adding that greed was also a common motivator for fraud.
"This highlights the importance of not only checking a candidate's criminal record, but also their employment history. If someone's had four jobs in 12 months, it's worth investigating why.
"The more points of reference an employer gains about a potential employee, the more informed the hiring decision."
According to the Australian Federal Police, 25 per cent of all fraud cases reported to authorities involved some form of identity fraud.
Mr Stackpole said that because companies stored and held sensitive personal information about their employees and customers, prevention was the best measure.
"To minimise risk of identity fraud, employers need to take a holistic approach," he said.
"Periodic screening, in addition to pre-employment screening, helps to monitor staff as to whether they have developed any criminal affiliations or are involved in any activity that could put the organisation and their colleagues at risk."
Other initiatives suggested by experts include properly discarding invoices and shredding any documents bearing a company's letterhead or its directors' signatures.
The advice follows new findings showing employees rather than customers are more likely to steal from Australian retailers.
The first edition of the Global Retail Theft Barometer, which covers global levels of retail shrinkage and crime, reported that Australian companies lost more than $2.3 billion from theft-related loss in the last financial year.
While customers accounted for 36.6 per cent of total thefts, disloyal workers were the main culprits and contributed to an overwhelming 40.2 per cent of retail shrinkage.
Mr Stackpole said despite mounting evidence demonstrating the benefits of background screeners, only 10 per cent of Australia's largest employers made use of them.
"While thorough background checking is common in the financial services sector, few other Australian industries have adopted this level of screening in their recruitment process with the same rigour," he said.
"Employers who combine background screening with internal controls to protect sensitive information minimise the chances of fraud occurring in their workplace and help to ensure the safety of their employees' identity."
The Sunday Telegraph, December 9, 2007
Identity theft - using the name of another person or business illegally to obtain credit - is one of the country's fastest-growing crimes.
Although the term is relatively new, the impact of identity theft on businesses is severe, with results often including ruined credit ratings and damaged reputations within the corporate sector.
First Advantage's managing director for Asia Pacific, Peter Stackpole,
said it was for this reason companies must thoroughly check each
job-seeker's background.
"Fraud in the workplace costs Australian businesses more than $77.5 million each year and often this is due to offenders seeking money for gambling," he said, adding that greed was also a common motivator for fraud.
"This highlights the importance of not only checking a candidate's criminal record, but also their employment history. If someone's had four jobs in 12 months, it's worth investigating why.
"The more points of reference an employer gains about a potential employee, the more informed the hiring decision."
According to the Australian Federal Police, 25 per cent of all fraud cases reported to authorities involved some form of identity fraud.
Mr Stackpole said that because companies stored and held sensitive personal information about their employees and customers, prevention was the best measure.
"To minimise risk of identity fraud, employers need to take a holistic approach," he said.
"Periodic screening, in addition to pre-employment screening, helps to monitor staff as to whether they have developed any criminal affiliations or are involved in any activity that could put the organisation and their colleagues at risk."
Other initiatives suggested by experts include properly discarding invoices and shredding any documents bearing a company's letterhead or its directors' signatures.
The advice follows new findings showing employees rather than customers are more likely to steal from Australian retailers.
The first edition of the Global Retail Theft Barometer, which covers global levels of retail shrinkage and crime, reported that Australian companies lost more than $2.3 billion from theft-related loss in the last financial year.
While customers accounted for 36.6 per cent of total thefts, disloyal workers were the main culprits and contributed to an overwhelming 40.2 per cent of retail shrinkage.
Mr Stackpole said despite mounting evidence demonstrating the benefits of background screeners, only 10 per cent of Australia's largest employers made use of them.
"While thorough background checking is common in the financial services sector, few other Australian industries have adopted this level of screening in their recruitment process with the same rigour," he said.
"Employers who combine background screening with internal controls to protect sensitive information minimise the chances of fraud occurring in their workplace and help to ensure the safety of their employees' identity."
The Sunday Telegraph, December 9, 2007
