Company leaves job apps out in open for ID thief
August 18, 2009 by Sam NarisiPosted in: HR Tech, In this week's e-newsletter - Tech
A woman was recently arrested after stealing the identities of nearly 100 victims. The source of information used for the thefts:
A stack of job applications left in a dumpster by an employer.
Ashley Johnson racked up more than $60,000 in debt by opening credit cards in other people’s names. Police say she was rummaging through the dumpster behind a Millington, TN, restaurant when she found a collection of rejected employment applications, complete with names, addresses, SSNs and other info.
Her spending spree lasted five months before she was caught by police.
The lesson for HR departments that want to avoid this kind of embrassing situation: Once you’re ready to toss applications, dispose of them properly — for example, by shredding them.
Tags: applications, ID theft, record keeping
August 18th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Social Security numbers should never be on employment applications. The rest goes unsaid.
August 18th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Sure they should. It’s just the way they are handled that is the issue. We have a background check authorization attached to our applications and the S.S. # is needed to pull the check as well as to check professional licenses. We just have to make sure to put applications in a secure place- and if they will be thrown away, make sure they are properly shredded and disposed of first.
August 18th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
I agree with DVM. It is legally allowable to ask for a Social Security Number on an employment application. Applications that are to be disposed of should always be shredded though.
August 18th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
We NEVER ask for a social security number until after we make a contingent job offer. At that time we ask for Social Security number, date of birth, marital status, gender, race and how many years they have lived in our state. These are all needed to do our background check. Until a contingent offer is made there is absolutely NO reason for us to have this information. We explain that the information is used to complete a background check (we are a healthcare organization), and I have never had anyone object to providing this information at this point in the hiring process. There can also be no claims that the information was used in a discriminatory way to make a hiring decision.
August 19th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Same as for Mar, we NEVER ask for SSNs until the offer is made and then we require a release to do background checks. And if and when I apply for a job, I’d never put the SSN info on any application. This story is an excellent example of things that can go wrong. Oh – and who IS shredding your non-hire applications, by the way? Some intern or minimum wager you just hired…?
August 20th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I do not want to have applicants ss#. I don’t need it until an offer has been extended and then I proceed with a background check. DWM do you check all applicants? If so, this would be extremely costly. If not, couldn’t you contact the potential employee after the offer?
August 25th, 2009 at 11:52 am
MN_HR makes a valid point, we had a temp doing some shredding and was reading everything before destroying it. It may cost more, but a certified document destruction company is a safer bet!
November 24th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
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