Do your frontline employees know what rules apply to your business? Have they been trained to understand consumer rights afforded by federal laws? If not, could they be giving your customers bad advice?

Victims of identity theft related to an existing account often experience confusion, anxiety, fear, and a host of other very emotional reactions. So when customers turn to the entity that issued the account (financial institution or utility provider, for example) for advice, it is a major moment of truth – if the customer receives compassion and helpful, accurate direction, the positive aspects of the event are amplified. If, however, the customer receives bad advice, the negative impact will quite likely be very severe, to the point that the customer may simply terminate the relationship. Taken in those terms, the time spent training your frontline employees – those most likely to be the first point of contact with customers with an alleged account theft or identity theft – makes perfect business sense.

Many employees do not understand the nature of identity theft as a crime. Our Licensed Investigators have heard victims recount tales in which the account issuer’s representative gave them wrong information. For example, a person victimized by a long-estranged family member who obtained phone service by using the victim’s personal identifying information was told that it was not identity theft, but a civil matter. A basic understanding of consumer rights and protections would avert many situations which lead to frustrated consumers and lost revenue.

By Jeremiah Miller
Director of Operations, Investigation and Restoration Center, Kroll Fraud Solutions

Tags: customer confusion, employee training, employees, fear, federal laws, identity theft victims

Categories: Consumer ID Security, Data Security Issues.