Will Your Business Be A Victim Of Identity Theft?
Will Your Business Be A Victim Of Identity Theft?
Identity theft is the world’s fastest growing crime. In the US alone, there are 27,000 identity theft victims daily. It’s likely that a high number of these victims include businesses of all sizes.
If Microsoft or Wal-Mart loses customer data to identity thieves, they simply pass the problem onto their extensive legal teams and security experts. But what if your small business gets caught up in some crook’s identity scheme?
The consequences can be devastating. The average victim of identity theft spends 1,600 hours sorting out all the problems and confusion. Losses can quickly mount into the thousands of dollars.
To make matters even worse, the federal government demands you keep all your customer and employee information safe from thieves. If it’s stolen, you can be liable for big fines and harsh penalties.
If all this makes you just a little nervous, I can’t say I blame you. This is the fastest growing crime in history, and touches almost everyone. It could easily devastate your business in a most expensive and public way — and that’s something to worry about.
Keep in mind as soon as it becomes known your customer or employee information was stolen, creditors and customers will start to have second thoughts about doing business with you. This trend has sadly been borne out time and time again.
Fortunately there are some solid, positive answers appearing. Recently one of America’s top legal service providers teamed up with one of the world’s most respected security companies. The result is a very inexpensive service that monitors credit reports 27/7 to catch criminals in the process of committing a crime.
If suspicious activity appears on a credit report, the alarms are sounded immediately. That can quickly limit and stop unwanted activity.
Furthermore, you’ll need legal help. A qualified team of experienced lawyers can help you sort through even the most daunting identity theft problems.
And while we’re talking about lawyers, don’t skimp on legal representation when dealing with contracts, problem customers, and problem suppliers. The biggest companies and richest individuals don’t make a move without first consulting their attorney — you shouldn’t either. One of the reason so many small businesses fail is they can’t or won’t afford legal help.
Again, this much-needed legal representation is now available for just a few dollars per month. In the past, a business would keep a legal firm on retainer for thousands per month. Because most people don’t need a lawyer all that often, top attorneys found they could charge very little per month, help those who asked for help, and still come out ahead. It’s a win-win for both lawyers and the business owners who need them.
