Buescher and Suthers warn business leaders of latest scam

Business identity thieves seek access to company credit

Denver, July 15, 2010 – Today, Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher and Attorney General John Suthers joined area business leaders to warn Coloradans about the latest scam targeting the state’s businesses. Criminals from outside the state have turned their attention to stealing the identity of businesses in order to gain access to credit.

“Corporate identity theft can levy steep costs on businesses unaware that their name and brand have been hijacked to steal credit from banks,” Suthers said. “Not only do these scams cost businesses, but they also decrease the amount of loans that banks can make to legitimate businesses. However, law enforcement can effectively prosecute these cases only if businesses take steps to ensure that they are monitoring who is authorized to act in their names.”

The criminals manipulate targeted business filing records at the Secretary of State’s office by changing a business’s information in order to imply that they have a legitimate stake in the company. These identity thieves use this maliciously altered information along with other records to apply for lines of credit from major retailers. Before the company’s actual owner or agent realizes what has happened, the business starts to receive calls from debt collectors and suffers damage to its credit report.

“Step one for us is alerting business owners and making them aware of the crime,” Buescher said. “We want to shine a light on this criminal activity and the various moving parts and also explain how our business owners can insulate themselves from becoming victims. Our aim is to shut down all the avenues used as part of this elaborate scheme.”

Most businesses operating in Colorado must register their names and list a local physical address with the Secretary of State’s online business filing system. This on-line filing system also allows business owners to make changes or corrections to business information and access other functions, including an e-mail notification service. This e-mail notification service provides instant notification of any change to a business’s record. If an unauthorized change is made to a record, this instant e-mail notification will allow a business owner to take quick action to help stop the crime before any real damage is done and provide law enforcement time to act.

“The most effective and simple way for businesses to protect themselves is through these automated email notifications,” Buescher said. “There’s no limit to how many email addresses can be included for each business, so include your attorney, your accountant, your banker, whoever.”

So far, only a handful of cases have been reported to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and suspects are in custody of law enforcement. However, business leaders like Colorado Bankers Association President Don Childears have stressed that education is the first line of defense.

Buescher and Suthers have already released letters to chambers of commerce and other business associations notifying them of the crime and ways to protect their members. They also included a one-page brochure and unveiled a web site as part of the campaign.

For more information, anyone interested can visit www.ProtectYourBusiness.us.