Act would help businesses that are victims of tax return identity theft

Posted on April 26, 2012 by VerifyProtect.com

Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief – Tax Day has come and gone. This year on the day many Americans dread, House Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) introduced The Stopping Tax Offenders and Prosecuting Identity Theft Act (H.R. 4362), a bipartisan measure aimed at stopping the growing problem of tax return identity theft.

Don’t think it’s that much of a problem? Think again. The Internal Revenue Service says that last year alone – tax year 2010 – more than 850,000 tax returns and $5.8 billion were associated with tax return identity theft.

The act would step up penalties for criminals who steal another’s identity, and their tax return. Also the list of victims of identity theft would be broadened to include businesses and charitable organizations, as many have been having trouble with identity theft.

Most victims are unaware that their identities have been stolen until they file their tax returns, only to be told by the IRS that someone claiming to be them already filed a return and claimed the refund.

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National Consumer Law Center report on background check companies says be careful who you hire

Posted on April 19, 2012 by VerifyProtect.com

A recent report by the National Consumer Law Center claims that background checks can be erroneous, advising employers to be careful when hiring an employment screening service to conduct background checks on their prospective employees.

According to the report, nearly 75 percent of employers are conducting some sort of pre-employment screening on job applicants. The report claims that errors made by fly-by-night background check companies using shoddy business practices can — and have — cost qualified people good jobs.

“Federal regulatory agencies and states should rein in the Wild West of the background screening industry by holding companies accountable,” said Persis Yu, the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) staff attorney and co-author of the report.

When hiring a screening service to conduct your business’s background checks, research the company’s history and reputation. VerifyProtect.com is a division of American Tenant Screen, which is a leading provider of integrated screening services for businesses in the markets we serve. The company provides screening services globally to more than 3,000 clients, and has been in business for nearly 25 years.

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Failure to perform background check has $1 million price tag for Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York

Posted on April 17, 2012 by VerifyProtect.com

It’s difficult to put a dollar figure on the value of background checks. But that got a lot easier recently for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. The value for them turned out to be $1 million – that’s how much a woman embezzled over a seven-year period while working as a volunteer bookkeeper at the famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan.

The bookkeeper was hired in 2003 before background checks were a routine part of the hiring process. If the diocese had run a background check on her, it would have discovered she had been convicted of grand larceny in one case and had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in another, according to an article in The New York Times.

This story should serve as a reminder to all those who still believe pre-employment screening is not worth the time and money it takes to conduct them. Criminal records and credit checks are a must for anyone who will be entrusted with the finances of your business. In particular all those who handle money, or care for others, should be thoroughly vetted.

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Social media background checks can have implications of liability

Posted on April 10, 2012 by VerifyProtect.com

We’ve written a lot about social media background checks lately, because it’s a trend that’s creeping into both formal company policies and informal hiring practices. It’s on the minds of employers who haven’t begun implementing any sort of social media check, and it’s on the minds of every Facebook and Twitter user who has contemplated what sorts of things they’ve shared that might come back to haunt them during their next job search.

Employers need to think long and hard about possible legal consequences before asking job applicants for their username and passwords in order to access personal profiles on select social media websites. Employers often don’t realize that once they’ve asked for an applicant’s social media login information, they become liable for the content posted. This can be trouble in a few different ways.

If an applicant admits guilt to some kind of crime within their personal profile, the employer who is given access to it may assume liability for protecting the information they find.
If an employer finds out an applicant’s age, sexual orientation or another protected class, and then decides not to hire that person, they could be opening themselves up to discrimination claims by the applicant who was not given a job.
If an employer misses signals or warning signs and something happens (crime is committed, someone is injured) the employer could become liable.

Social media background checks are here to stay in some capacity. But employers need to approach this trend with careful consideration.

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Measures being taken to make online dating safer

Posted on April 5, 2012 by VerifyProtect.com

Last month three of the largest online dating websites – eHarmony, Match.com, and Spark Networks – along with California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris issued a Joint Statement of Key Principles of Online Dating Site Safety, in which they espoused the importance of background checks on dating website members in an effort to avoid making dating site members vulnerable to sexual predators. The statement also aims to protect online dating website members from identity theft and scams.

Last week the Illinois Senate passed legislation that would require online dating websites that offer services in Illinois to clearly disclose whether or not they conduct criminal background checks on all members. The bill also would make it so online dating sites must disclose whether they admit members who have criminal records, and use government databases, including criminal court records and sex offender registries.

If it passes, those who are found to be in violation of the law could be fined up to $50,000 per violation. The measure, just like the joint statement issued last month, is indicative of a trend in social networking and online dating – where people often get to know each other before they even meet face to face – to take more precautions to make sure members are kept safe.

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Survey on CFOs finds many encounter fraud in the workplace

Posted on April 3, 2012 by VerifyProtect.com

With background checks and other pre-employment screening methods on the rise, one would think the incidence of committing fraud in the workplace would be declining. Not so, according to a recent survey of Chief Financial Officers of private equity and venture capital firms.

The survey, conducted by business investigations firm Corporate Resolutions, Inc., found that 39 percent of CFOs who responded to the survey had encountered fraud during their tenure as CFO within their own firm or at a portfolio company. And 81 percent had decided not to invest in a company because of suspected fraud or other integrity issues.

Such numbers underscore the importance and relevance of background checks as part of a healthy company’s investment in its own future. It’s not enough to blindly trust employees, particularly ones who have some hand in and handling of the company’s finances. Sixty-seven percent of CFOs surveyed had encountered asset misappropriation, and 17 percent had discovered corruption of some kind.

In today’s global economy companies sometimes hire people overseas or across the country without ever actually meeting them and shaking hands. While long-distance hiring is a normal part of 21^st century business, the practice makes conducting due diligence on every viable employee candidate more important than ever.

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