Fraud and business identity theft cases are on the rise. Business operators and owners - it is time to develop a plan to protect your business. Identity theft can destroy your business credit scores and cost your business a lot of money and time.
Here are some affordable and quick steps that you can take to protect your company
1. Secure your data: Your data should be secured both offline and online. Ask your service provider what they could do to protect your data. Invest in ad blockers, antivirus, strong internet firewalls, and anti-malware. Sensitive documents should be locked in a filing cabinet or make it standard to shred them.
2. Solid internal security measures: Restrict employees from accessing financial records and sensitive information. A lot of information leaks start internally. Make sure to train employees on the dangers of opening emails that contain phishing and other spam. Require that staff only use devices that have been authorized by the company. Prevent criminals and hackers from stealing company information by managing internal operations.
3. Talk to your vendors: Make sure that if you give out sensitive information on applications that you speak with vendors to see how they handle the safety of personal and business data.
4. Run you business with an EIN: It is not safe to operate your business with your social security number. Even if you are a sole proprietor, it is much safer to operate with an employer identification number.
5. Monitor your accounts: Monitor your bank statements, business credit reports, and credit card statements in order to protect your business. Fraud mostly appears first on credit reports. You may be a victim of identity them if a new account is opened or late payments show up on a revolving account that is inactive.
Act immediately to protect your business’s financial standing and reputation if you notice fraudulent activity. Stay ahead of potential thieves by setting up credit alerts on your business or personal credit reports.
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