Interview with Graham McWaters

February 2008

Interviewee: Graham McWaters, Author of The Canadian Guide to Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft and Other Fraud

Subject:   Teaching Employees about Identity Theft to Create a Culture of Privacy

Nymtity:  How does teaching employees on identity theft build a culture of privacy?

McWaters: If an employee understands how identity theft takes place and the consequences of this activity, they will understand how important it is to comply with the privacy policy within their organization. If you practice a lifestyle that encompasses protecting your own identity through the safeguarding of your own personal information, these habits should be easily transferred over to the workplace environment. Whether it’s shredding personal and confidential information to cautious behaviour on the Internet, these prudent activities can translate into vigilant and safe activities on the job. If an employee sees how identity theft can affect them personally, they will understand the corporate policy with more appreciation and work in accordance with the policy.

Nymity:  Who do you recommend be included in the training?

McWaters: The employees that should be included in this training are those that handle personal and confidential information. Employees that manage privacy and compliance policies within an organization can also benefit from taking the training as well. Areas that can benefit the most are legal, accounting, human resources, finance, customer service and marketing departments.

Nymity:  What are the benefits to the employees?

McWaters: The benefits to the employees are numerous, both personally and work related. On the personal side, they will come out of the training with a thorough understanding of how to protect their own personal information. They will be better prepared to protect themselves from identity theft which in turn will assist in eliminating the stress and costs associated with identity theft.  The impact on the employee if they are a victim of identity theft could be devastating, both emotionally and financially. With respect to the workplace, they will be less likely to cause a human error that could lead to a data breach. Understanding the cause and effect of identity theft will benefit the employee, their family and their employer.

Nymity:  What are the benefits to the company?

McWaters: An employee who understands how to reduce identity theft will probably assist in the reduction of data breaches which in turn will save the organization the stress and financial costs associated with such breaches. If human errors are reduced, the organization should have a lower threat level. With more education on topics related to privacy issues, the organizations will be keeping this topic top of mind. Organizations need to be educating employees regularly so they are up to speed on potential security threats.

Nymity: What is identity theft?

McWaters: Identity theft includes the use of someone else’s personal information, without his or her knowledge or consent, to commit a crime, such as fraud, theft or forgery. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in North America. Identity crimes are at the beginning of a whole range of major crimes, including people smuggling, drug trafficking, terrorism, money laundering, investment fraud, and mortgage and title fraud.

Nymity: In your book, you talk about identity theft and other fraud.  What other frauds do you teach employees?

McWaters: The other frauds that we cover in our training programs for employees are: fraud against seniors, advance fee scams, charity fraud and medical fraud. There are many types of frauds that involve people being scammed for personal information, money and other assets. In most cases of identity theft and other fraud, the con artist makes an offer that sounds too good to be true. The attendees at these training sessions learn how to recognize these bogus offers.

Nymity:  What would be a typical outline of a training session?

McWaters: The training sessions are broken down into 6 modules covered in a half day. The main components are as follows:  Identity theft background; Financial fraud; Real estate fraud; Internet and e-mail fraud; Telephone fraud and Other fraud. The training session covers each topic with real stories and preventative measures to prevent the identity theft or fraud. The attendees will have an up to date understanding of the most popular scams and how to avoid being caught in the fraudster’s trap while protecting their identity and their personal information. The training forms a solid foundation for the employee to be more cognizant of privacy issues in the workplace.

Nymity: How much do you charge for an employee training program? 

McWaters: The cost to attend the employee training program on identity theft is $245.00 per person. There is a group rate for organizations that wish to have a private session which will be priced upon request.

Nymity:  In closing, for organization that want to enhance their current privacy training with a section on identity theft, what are the 5 key areas to focus on?

McWaters:  If an organization wants to enhance their current privacy training with a section on identity theft I would recommend they look at their specific business practices so they can identify which areas need the added protection from identity theft. The areas that seem to be most vulnerable these days are in data management, both electronic and paper. Another area of concern could be the telephone. Employees need to be more vigilant with respect to who they divulge personal information to over the phone. Last but not least I would also consider looking at how identity theft takes place on the Internet and through e-mail. All of these items are covered in more detail in my training program.

Contact Information:

Graham McWaters

www.grahammcwaters.com

905.884.1500

mcwaters1@rogers.com