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ABAGNALE'S ADVICE
Taking Responsibility
By Frank W. Abagnale
 Attention small-business owners: What are you doing to help combat fraud and identity theft?
It's not only big corporations and financial institutions that are required to do their part in protecting customers and employees from fraud—small-business owners are just as responsible. As the proprietor of a small business, there are several questions you can ask yourself to gauge how effective—or ineffective—you may be in keeping employee and customer information secure and protecting yourself and your firm from being susceptible to fraud.
Do all of your employees have access to important and private information about your customers, or is it limited to a select few? Can the receptionist get a look at customer files, which could include material like the customer's bank account data, notes on corporate officers, or wire transfer information? Does the file clerk in your office have access to employee records, which reveal privileged information such as date of birth or Social Security number? If the answer is yes, you could very well have a problem. You don't want to make it too easy or too tempting for someone to misuse information.
That's why it's critical to place limits on the kinds of information your employees have access to and why it's important to practice some course of identity management. Follow these basic steps to secure information your company has: Be sure information stored on computers is accessible by private passwords, which are routinely changed. Make sure paper files are locked and stored in a secure area. When customer or employee information is discarded, be sure it is shredded.
Remember, if you make it easy for someone to steal from you, chances are they will. And it's not money people are after, but information as well.
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