Business Identity Theft Resources

What is Business Identity Theft?

Business ID theft occurs when thieves steal a business’ identity by gaining access to the business’ sensitive company information like, bank and credit card information, tax identification number (TIN), employer identification number (EIN), and the owners’ personal information. Thieves then pose as the owners, officers, or employees of the business to obtain by fraudulent means cash, credit, loans, products, and services.

Generally, thieves get away with their stolen cash and any other items quickly, and their criminal activities go unnoticed until it is too late. The business usually remains unaware of the crime until the bills and collection notices arrive at the victimized business. After discovering the crime, businesses invest valuable time and resources to repair their finances, restore their damaged credit and their destroyed reputation.

Detection, Prevention, and What to Do If You Are a Victim of Business Identity Theft (BIdT)

Common Business Identity Theft Schemes

Examples of common business identity theft schemes and tactics that criminals use include:

Temporarily establishing an office space and/or merchant accounts in the victim business’ name;
Ordering products and/or services with business’ stolen bank or credit card information;
Using the identity of the business owners, officers, directors and/or managers to obtain loans or lines of credit;
Accessing and manipulating a business’ credit reports to manipulate its financial records to inflate its credit credentials;
Taking over company employees’ user accounts through cyber ‘phishing’ or ‘pharming’ scams to gain access to the business’ bank or credit card information;
Using stolen business EINs (federal employer identification numbers) to file fraudulent tax returns to obtain tax refunds;
Pilfering through the business’ trash and recycle bins to obtain account numbers and other sensitive business information;
Filing fraudulent business registrations and other administrative documents with Secretary of State’s Office to change the company’s registered address, agent for service of process, or the names and addresses of the owners, officers, directors and/or managers, in order to establish lines of credit with banks, wholesalers, and retailers.

Important Note:

The Secretary of State does not have statutory authority under state law to review, confirm, or investigate information presented during the business registration or filing process. Rather, its authority is limited to that of a “good faith” administrative filing function ensuring the basic requirements have been met. That is, the submitted documents include all the basic required information and are complete, and the statutory filing fees have been paid. If all these basic requirements have been met, the Secretary of State must accept the information filed for a business at face value and record it.

How to Prevent Business Identity Theft

Help protect your business from identity theft by updating your business filings as soon as any of your business contact information changes. Be sure to confirm your business information on file with the Secretary of State is current at least once each year. Use our business organization search to receive real-time email alerts from the Secretary of State whenever changes are made to your business record by ensuring your email address on file is up-to-date. Some additional ways to protect your business identity are listed below.

Protect and monitor your State business registration information (Secretary of State, State Tax Department, etc.).
File your Secretary of State annual report on time by the July 1 due date. Business ID thieves often target companies classified as inactive, administratively dissolved, revoked, in default, etc. Therefore, it is extremely important to ensure your annual report is filed on time to avoid your business being marked as ‘non-compliant,’ administratively dissolved, or revoked for failure to file the report by the due date.
Protect and monitor your business information, data, and identifiers as carefully as you would your sensitive personal information;
Monitor your business credit reports with the major credit bureaus:
Keep your business and personal finances separate.
Protect your business computers and networks by installing and updating, on a regular basis, anti-virus, anti-spyware, malware, and Internet security software.
Establish company data security policies and limit employee access to sensitive company information and customer assets.
Shred in a cross-shredder or destroy business records before placing them in trash or recycle bins.
Stay alert for large or unusual orders from unknown customers or businesses and any other suspicious activities.
Obtain business insurance coverage that covers any losses due to business identity theft.

What to Do If You Become a Victim of Business Identity Theft

If your business is a victim of business ID theft, respond quickly by taking necessary steps to minimize the damage and stop thieves from destroying your business.

Immediately contact your bank, credit card providers, creditors, and key suppliers to report your business is the victim of business identity theft, and confirm if there has been any suspicious or fraudulent orders, or other suspicious activity, conducted in your business’ name.
Report the crime to your local law enforcement or the West Virginia State Police, as applicable.
File a complaint with the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office.
Request copies of your business credit reports from the major credit reporting bureaus and review them for accuracy and suspicious activity.
Report and correct fraudulent business filings with the appropriate government agencies. File any appropriate corrections to your business records, as necessary. Obtain certified copies of any fraudulent business filings or business registration records from the Secretary of State’s Office, if applicable.
- West Virginia Secretary of State – Business Division
- West Virginia State Tax Department - Criminal Investigations Division
Contact your business insurer and your attorney to learn about your legal rights and remedies.
Get assistance from federal agencies.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – Identity Theft Resources
- U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – IdentityTheft.gov
  Note: FTC only takes reports or provides assistance for incidents involving consumer identity theft, not business identity theft.
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) – Identity Theft

Local, State and National Initiatives

Contact your local chamber of commerce to introduce a forum to educate the local small business community about the growing problem of business identity theft. Learn more about ongoing national efforts by visiting the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) Business Identity Theft Task Force.

Other Resources