Car salesman stole customers’ details for fraud

The news that a salesman used genuine customers’ details while working at a car dealership in order to obtain £145,000 in loans highlights the problem with having increasing amounts of sensitive customer information all too easily available to too many people.

I have seen people’s credit card details written on pieces of scrap paper for deposits taken over the phone and just left lying around for anyone to see and record. The proposal form for a finance agreement records the most sensitive information which can easily be used for committing fraud.

When you consider that in order to propose a customer to a finance company the sales person will ask for a customer’s name and address, bank details, previous addresses, employment details and will always obtain copies of driving licences and proof of address records such as utility bills or bank statements and wage slips, it’s a surprise it doesn’t happen more often.

The salesperson may only have been working at that job for a very short time and are often not subject to very thorough background checks before being offered employment in the car sales industry. This sensitive information can be gold dust for anyone with criminal intentions and cloning identities is big business and a crime that is on the rise. If car dealers do not tighten up their procedures and aim to protect customer information then this most certainly will not be the last case of a salesperson stealing money.

I have even heard of an employee being sacked from a job for stealing and then employed with another company and proceeding to do the same thing again, often companies do not want the publicity that this kind of bad press brings them.