6 Tips to Keep Your Business Safe With Identity Verification Software

The world of business is rarely a peaceful one. While you’re focused on the day-to-day operation of your company, you may also be contending with unforeseen emergencies, disgruntled customers, and unexpected complications. However, a less visible menace may be silently eroding your profits without you even noticing: identity fraud.

When people steal the identities of others for financial gain, it can cost businesses billions of dollars each year. Fortunately, using identity verification software can help protect your company from fraudulent activities and keep your bottom line safe from outside attacks.

Ask for verified identification from customers

One of the best ways to protect your business and customers is to ask for proper identification before doing business with them. Proper identification will vary depending on what kind of business you run, but generally speaking, there are some things you should always demand from customers. This includes:

• A government-issued picture ID (e.g., driver’s license)
• Proof of residency (e.g., utility bill)

Verify the identity of all your employees

Another common source of fraud is your employees. They have access to the company’s financial data and physical assets, making them a prime target for identity theft. Fraudsters can use this information to impersonate your employees and steal money from your business.

To help prevent this from happening, you must verify the identity of every single one of your employees and take steps to ensure that their credentials are genuine.

Keep a watchful eye on your company’s activity

Good software will allow you to monitor your company’s activity so that you can stay on top of things. With such a system, you can:

• Check if anyone is using your company’s data without your permission.
• Check if anyone is trying to hack your system or steal its data.
• See what kind of transactions are being made within the company’s network and whether they’re legitimate or not.

Manage your verification process with one software rather than multiple tools

The use of multiple identity verification systems, even if they are all integrated, can quickly become unwieldy and inefficient. Using one solution that covers the entire lifecycle of your employees’ or customers’ onboarding will make it easier for you to manage access and compliance across the board.

Check that any third parties you use are also taking safety precautions

You should make sure that any third parties you use to help with identity verification are also taking the necessary precautions to keep your data safe. If they’re not using the same software, standards, and procedures, it’s probably time to find a new vendor.

It’s also important that they’re using procedures for updating information so as not to risk any potential issues with accuracy or legitimacy in the future.

Be wary of unknown users and followers on social media

It is not uncommon for fake accounts to be created on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, to impersonate real people or businesses to gain access to confidential information. These accounts may be used by scammers who try to trick you into giving away your login details.

A common way that scammers fool you is by having photos from other user profiles with the same name as yours, but with different profile names (e.g., @johnsmith21). If it looks like a real account, but there’s something off about it (e.g., the profile picture doesn’t match what you’d expect), then it could be a fake one trying to steal your identity information.

Good identity verification software offers a simple and effective solution to prevent much of this risk. By taking advantage of the many features that help you verify customer, employee, and third-party identities, you can stay one step ahead of those who may try to trick your company into a data breach or an even more dangerous situation. And remember—there are plenty of other precautions you should take as well. If everyone in your organization is on the same page about safety, then you will be able to put yourself at a lower risk for these kinds of threats.

Clare Louise