Thousands of New Zealanders become victims of the crime of identity theft annually, costing the New Zealand economy over $200 million¹ every year. Victims of identity theft have had their identities stolen, with criminals using others' identities in fraudulent activities.
Identity fraud constitutes the misuse of information, such as your name and address, credit card, passport, or bank account numbers. A person could use this stolen information to order products and services online, set up business trading accounts with organisations or even pretend to be you if the police arrest them!
Identity thieves could even receive government benefits and apply for loans by accessing your personal details, for example:
Often you can find much of this information with a quick online search. For example, notice how much data is available by looking at your social media accounts or conduct an internet search on your name. Or it could be as easy as someone rifling through your rubbish bins at night to collect discarded information.
Never provide your personal information over the phone, via text message, email or the internet.
You can reduce the chances of identity theft in NZ by:
Reputational risk is a threat to your brand. Reputation is often compromised by an event that causes a negative public perception or bad publicity.
Mitigate these types of risks to your brand by:
Make sure you backup your data, secure your devices and network and encrypt critical information. Read the top 11 cyber security tips by CertNZ.
Ensure you provide customer service training to all employees to understand the importance of professionally (and successfully) dealing with complaints. Find out what you can and can't do on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website.
Background checks and other pre-employment checks are wise steps to include in your hiring process. Find out more information about hiring in New Zealand by reading our HR guide.
Pick four or five core values that you want your organisations to be governed by. Typical values include diversity, accountability, innovation, passion, integrity and respect.
If your identity or reputation has been compromised, you need to be prepared to respond quickly. Having a crisis communication plan specifically for your organisation is essential. It could be as simple as listing all potential risks with your planned response to address them.