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Protecting Your Business Identity During COVID-19
Source:
dnb.com
- Oct 1, 2020
Every business is susceptible to fraud. Bad actors adapt their methods almost as quickly as security experts create new methods to detect fraudulent activity. While it is impossible for a business to prevent every type of fraud, staying vigilant and taking basic precautions will help prevent you from becoming a victim.
According to Dun & Bradstreet’s High Risk and Fraud Insight (HRFI) team, identity theft traditionally increases after major natural disasters and national crisis. In 2019, the team saw an over 100 percent increase in business identity theft.
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread through the world, so too has fraudulent activity that affects small businesses. According to Dun & Bradstreet HRFI data, the team estimates an overall 258 percent spike in business identity theft since the beginning of 2020 – mostly focused on gaining illegal access to relief and recovery funding. For example, the Paycheck Protection Program in the U.S., under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), prioritized millions of Americans employed by small businesses by authorizing up to $349 billion toward job retention and other expenses. While the vast majority of relief funding has been channeled to upstanding small businesses in need, we have also observed a small number of bad actors who have falsified records to apply for and attempt to gain access to those crucial government dollars.
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Category: General Business
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