Have you ever wondered where your information is going when you apply for jobs? You are giving away some of your most personal details, and you are doing it willingly without considering the consequences. There are people who make their social media profiles private, who have their phone numbers removed from the phone book, and yet they give away years of personal information when applying for a job. Joshua Thompson from Resume Writing Service Resumeble claims the real reason why resume identity theft is overlooked is because it is untraceable.
Tracking This Type of ID Theft Is Almost Impossible
Authorities can track a digital trail to figure out if your identity has been stolen from social media, or if your phone number or email address has been sold, but CV writing and applying for a job is a one-step/single-transaction action, and there is no record as to whom the information has been sold.
Let’s pretend an alien comes to earth and has no personal information, and let’s say that alien does a little resume writing and applies for a single job and six months later his identity is stolen. Only in that circumstance would the authorities know where to start. If your ID has been stolen, the authorities have to rule out your snail mail, people searching through your bin, a wallet theft, social media stealing, phishing scams, and so forth. Even if they could rule out all of those things, they would have to rely on you to give a full and frank record of every job you have ever applied to. They would need to know:
- Which company you applied to
- Which website you visited
- What information you sent via your resume
- When you did your resume writing
- When you applied
…And, they would need this information for every job you applied for. Plus, there is no telling if your information was stolen prior to it being sent, such as through malware on your computer, and/or if it was stolen in transit from whichever servers it passed through when you applied for the job.
Companies Have Plausible Deniability
Unless somebody sets up a fake corporation with the aim of phishing for details, there is no real way to prosecute a real company for ID theft. Even if they did steal your ID, they can claim their severs were hacked, they could claim a fired employee sold the information, and they could deny ever receiving your application in the first place. Tracking ID theft from resumes may be difficult but prosecuting for it is almost impossible. This is especially true if you tick (or untick) the boxes that allow them to share your information with third parties because your information may have passed through so many hands that it is difficult to see who stole your identity and/or who committed fraud.
Avoid ID Theft – Don’t Use Your Information
One of the most common ways an ID fraudster will use your information is to break into your accounts. They do this by guessing your secret questions, passwords and codes, and then resetting them so only they have access to your accounts. Avoid this by never using your real information for secret questions.
A common question is the first job you ever had, college you went to, etc., and this information can be found on your resume. The trick is to use fake information and write it down in a book at home. Thieves are not breaking into people’s houses to look for their password books, so write down the answer to your secret questions and your passwords, and then hide the book from prying family members or friends.
For example, if you are setting up a new bank account and they ask for a secret answer about your first job, instead of giving the real title of your first job, enter that you were a “Floopy Herder,” and write it down in a password book at home. That secret answer cannot be stolen from your resume, and nobody will guess it either. If you need to reset your bank account/password, then consult your password book for your secret answer.
Avoid ID Theft – Do Not Give Your Date of Birth
Criminals may use your information to apply for credit cards and loans. You will have to give your name, address, phone number, and email address on your resume, so the criminals will have access to that information, but they will also need your date of birth (DOB), which is not something you have to give on a resume.
Sadly, they may ask for your DOB on your job application, which will be a problem if the criminal gains access to your resume and your application form. If you use a resume service and they ask for your DOB, then give them a fake one and delete it from your resume when you get it back.
On the plus side, most credit companies will only lend to people whose bank account details match their name. For example, if “Jenny Biggles” applies for a loan in the name of “Johnny Slither.” The loan company will not pay the loan into Jenny Biggles bank account, only into an account with Johnny’s name on it. Furthermore, many creditors will send direct mail to your home address to confirm your loan or credit card, which is no use to a criminal unless they have a way to intercept your mail.
Avoid ID Theft – Use a Different Email Address
An identity thief relies partially on stealing your resume information and partially on either phishing or cracking (brute force attacking). They enter your email address into an online account, and then a computer program enters thousands of passwords until the right one unlocks the account. If the criminals cannot get their hands on your email address, then any attempts at cracking will be fruitless.
Use a different email address for applying for jobs and a different one for your sensitive accounts (banks, credit card, PayPal, etc.). When you use a resume service, give them your alternative email rather than giving the resume writers the same one you use for your sensitive accounts. The same is true for social media too; create a new email address and use it only for your social media accounts.
