Reports of identity theft — one of the nation’s fastest growing financial crimes — continue to make headline news. Articles like “Worker Charged in Hospital File Thefts”1 and “Employment Records Prove Ripe Source for Identity Theft,”2 and “Liability for Employee Identity Theft is Growing,”3 reflect that employers are not immune from exposure to this crime. In fact, one of the primary sources of identity fraud is theft of employer records, according to a 2002 report by credit information provider TransUnion. Additionally, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), approximately 90% of business-record identity thefts involve stealing payroll or employment records. The remaining 10% of such thefts involve customer lists. The consequences are significant: Nearly 10 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2008, up 22% from 2007, according to one study.4

While it is uncertain whether the economic downturn is to blame for any increase in identity theft, it is certain that New York employers now can be held liable if they fail to protect their employees from identity theft.


Click here to read the entire pdf.