As the recession wears on, more and more companies are failing. But still thousands are able to stay afloat due to cost cutting measures, clever marketing and ingenuity. You know, the right way, but at least one company stayed in business last year thanks to its CEO’s willingness to do almost anything to save the firm, including stealing the identities of his own employees.
According to the New York Newsday, Terrence Chalk, who was chief executive officer of MSP Compulinx Managed Services, a business that operated in Westchester County, New York, used his employees’ credit information to get loans to keep his computer firm afloat when he experienced payment gaps from clients. In total, he applied for more than $1 million in bank loans and credit cards from 2001 to 2006 this way.
On August 31, 2009 Chalk pleaded guilty to identity theft and fraud charges, after trying to fight them for three years. He will be sentenced on December 2 and could receive up to a seven year prison term. This is a far cry from the sentence he could have gotten if he had not agreed to the guilty plea.
It’s hard to say that Chalk was a shady businessman and that anyone who worked for him should have known the risks. In fact, he was once seen as a high achiever in the business world, even earning an induction into the Westchester County Business Council’s Hall of Fame. It is completely plausible that those who worked for him had no idea what he was up to – until they tried to apply for a loan themselves and noticed there was a lot more information in their credit history than there should have been.
While we are taught for the most part to trust our employers, and to not work for people that we don’t trust for long periods of time, there is no telling what can happen behind the closed doors of the CEO office. And, of course, others in the company also have access to employee personal information, such as human resources personnel and people that process payroll information.
While it’s not a good idea to start inherently distrusting people at the workplace, it is a good idea to understand that you alone are responsible for guarding your personal information. You never know what someone might do with it if given the right opportunity. To mitigate the risk to your bank account and your personal credit, you may want to think about identity theft protection. As more companies struggle, and more people lose their jobs, some who wouldn’t before are looking to crime to help them get by.
Note that this is not an overwhelming number of people, but it is enough that your risk of identity theft may be higher now than ever before. Looking at the statistics it seems this way too. Nearly 10 million Americans were victimized in 2009, according to the Federal Trade Commission and this year is not looking any better.
Check your credit reports regularly and look into an identity protection service. Taking a few minutes can help you rest easy, no matter what the economy has in store for us next.