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It’s hard enough to be an entrepreneur without any external challenges tossed into the mix. But businesses in Ohio also have to be on the lookout for a problem most of us associate more with individuals: identity theft.
Believe it or not, criminals have become adept at stealing the identities of business entities, or submitting other fraudulent filings. Dun and Bradstreet reported a 254% increase in business identity theft in 2020. The aim is to appoint themselves as a statutory agent and take over the identity of the business to secure loans without the intent to pay them back. Fraudsters also attempt to grab unclaimed funds, steal the business’s checks, and deposit them into their own accounts. They can also use a person’s information (such as name and address) without their permission, to file to start a business. This could connect the victim to the illegal activity of the new “business.”
“We’ve made Ohio the best state in the nation to start and grow a business, and that means we need to look out for our entrepreneurs,” Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said. “In today’s tech-driven culture, businesses of all sizes face the growing threat of identity theft and fraud. (Senate Bill 98) is designed to crack down on the bad actors trying to rip off Ohio’s job creators.”
In fact, LaRose, state Sen. Michael Rulli, R-Dist. 33 of Salem, and Ohio Chamber of Commerce CEO Steve Stivers are supporting SB 98 because they believe it will help protect entrepreneurs and their businesses.
SB 98 would improve businesses’ ability to report fraudulent filings; limit reinstatements (so an old business cannot be revived for illegal purposes); require agent addresses to be residential or business addresses, rather than P.O. boxes or commercial mailboxes; and require clarification that official-looking notices and intentionally misleading mailers be clearly marked as not coming from a government agency. That last requirement would also force the inclusion of the Secretary of State’s website, where businesses can access authentic documents and resources.
According to the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network, scams in which fraudsters imitate official government entities and charge exorbitant amounts for government services that are usually free or low cost rose by 45% nationally from 2019 to 2020.
With fraudsters that creative, it will be hard for legislators to keep up, but SB 98 will help. Lawmakers should not hesitate to offer businesses as much support against predatory criminals as the law can give them.
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