A recent independent report produced by Javelin Strategy & Research found a surprisingly wide gender gap in identity theft, as women were 26 percent more likely to be victims of fraud than men in the past year. The 2009 Identity Fraud Survey Report also revealed that the overall number of identity theft and fraud victims has increased 22 percent to nearly 9.9 million adults in the United States.

Now in its fifth consecutive year, the comprehensive survey is the nation’s longest-running study of identity fraud – defined as the unauthorized use of another person’s personal information to achieve illicit financial gain. With the help of 24,000 U.S. respondents over the past five years, the report identifies important findings about the impact of fraud while uncovering both areas of progress and concern.

Clearly the most interesting aspect of the report was the pronounced gender disparity in identity theft, and many factors led to women being 26 percent more likely to be victims of fraud than men. The growing reason behind this disparity, surprisingly, is an often-misunderstood trend that digital commerce actually makes identity theft harder, rather than easier.

The report found that fraud attacks involving women occurred more often through “in-person” channels – such as stores and restaurants – where there is less consumer control, and that a greater percentage of women make in-person purchases. In addition, women were almost three times more likely than men to report their information stolen during an in-person purchase.

As a result, men may be less prone to identity theft and fraud due to their preference for online shopping over real world retail, as just 6 percent of men suffered from breaches caused by in-store retail fraud compared with 16 percent of women. Also, because men are statistically more likely than women to adopt newer technologies such as online banking, they more often have the benefit of high-tech safeguards.

Even worse, it takes women on average almost twice as long to catch fraud as men, mostly because men are more likely to use tools that help detect fraud more quickly, such as email or mobile alerts. Women took 83 days on average to discover that their financial identities had been compromised compared with 45 days for men, leading to a far greater risk of repeat fraud for women.

This gender gap in identity theft could narrow if women begin taking advantage of the fraud detection tools available to them, like a personal background check. MyBackgroundCheck.com – a member of The Pre-employ.com Family of Companies – was one of the first personal background check services for individuals and is now a nationwide leader of the growing trend in personal information control. For more information on our services, please visit www.MyBackgroundCheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.

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tahearn@mybackgroundcheck.com

Background checks have been performed on prospective employees by employers for years. However, the act of these jobseekers requesting “personal” background checks on themselves in order to enhance their employment opportunities is a recent development.

Jobseekers requesting personal background checks are a growing market that is rapidly gaining popularity and a great deal of momentum. Why? Because there are more jobseekers than ever now and the competition for employment is fierce. According to recent U.S. Labor Department reports, 3 million people lost jobs in 2008 and nearly 600,000 more did so in January 2009.

With more unemployed jobseekers comes more resume fraud. A recent study by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 53 percent of all job applications contained inaccurate information. That figure is certain to rise along with the number of unemployed jobseekers. Unfortunately, when companies hire unqualified job applicants everyone loses: the companies that now must deal with the cost in time and money spent on unqualified employees AND the qualified jobseekers who told the truth but lost jobs to unqualified competitors who did not.

Ordering personal background checks can help jobseekers gain a crucial advantage over their competition. According to SHRM, more than 96 percent of U.S. employers currently perform background checks to validate the identity and background of jobseekers and uncover any criminal history. Personal background checks allow jobseekers to know exactly what personal information will be revealed to employers, while also giving them the opportunity to make sure that information is accurate, correct errors, and prevent ID theft.

Having gained valuable insight into their own personal information, jobseekers who order personal background checks can feel more confident and relaxed during the other portions of the pre-employment screening process, especially the all-important interview. Bottom line: jobseekers need to see what background checks will reveal before employers do, and personal background checks are the quickest and easiest way to accomplish this task.

What jobseekers don’t know can and will hurt them. With personal background checks, jobseekers gain an edge in today’s crowded job market. While most background check companies serve employers, MyBackgroundCheck.com – one of the first consumer requested background check services and a member of The Pre-employ.com Family of Companies – specializes in personal background checks for individuals.

With a MyBackgroundCheck.com Personal Background Check Account, jobseekers can view and manage information, show reports to employers over a secure network, and receive knowledge of who is viewing their reports. If inaccurate information is discovered in a background check, a dispute resolution service helps account members remove the discrepancies and keep their personal background check information current, secure, and accurate. 

MyBackgroundCheck.com’s Employment Enhancement packages help jobseekers provide employers with the background check information needed to extend job offers to qualified candidates. As jobseekers desire more control over their personal background check information and employers continue to seek ways to reduce costs and lessen risks, MyBackgroundCheck.com presents the only solution for all of these needs. 

Jobseekers interested in an Employment Enhancement package – including a U.S. Criminal File Search, Social Security Number (SSN) Address Locator, Sex Offender Registry Search, Previous Employment Verification, and Education Verification – should visit http://www.mybackgroundcheck.com/jobseekers.aspx. To create a Personal Background Check Account, go to http://www.mybackgroundcheck.com/personal-background-check-info.aspx. For more information on personal background check services, please visit www.MyBackgroundCheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.

Over the past two years, MySpace.com has barred 90,000 users that it has identified as registered sex offenders from their social networking site through background checks, the company recently revealed to authorities. The shocking number of sex offenders – people found guilty of sex crimes and ordered to register with law enforcement officials – was 40,000 more than MySpace had previously acknowledged. In 2007, some 29,000 sex offenders were blocked from MySpace with background checks.

For those of you who have been living on Mars – or who are not members of Generations X, Y, or even Z now – MySpace is a popular social networking site that lets approximately 130 million users share, message, blog, and email each other to stay “connected” online. After reports that some of its growing number of teenage users were abducted by sex offenders, MySpace committed itself to making their site safer by using background checks. MySpace worked with a background check company to develop a national database that matched user profiles to data on convicted sex offenders.

Thanks to the use of background checks, this recent revelation from MySpace shows that sexual offenders can be as much of a problem online as they are offline. Users – and parents of users – of highly popular social networking sites like MySpace who interact with “virtual strangers” who may in fact be sexual offenders should not wait for someone else to perform their background checks for them. Consumer ordered background checks are on the rise, signaling an increasing effort by individuals to take responsibility for their own protection, and the protection of their family and friends, from sex offenders and other violent criminals.

MyBackgroundCheck.com – a leader in consumer ordered background check services and member of the Pre-employ.com Family of Companies – believes individual background checks are a necessary tool for protecting children, teens, and young adults from sex offenders in today’s computerized world. For more information on MyBackgroundCheck.com, please visit www.MyBackgroundCheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.

MyBackgroundCheck.com – an exclusive background screening vendor to several national volunteer organizations and member of the Pre-Employ.com Family of Companies – hosted a complimentary webinar “Preventing the Unthinkable: An Integrated Approach to Protecting Campers and Staff” on January 27, 2009.

Participants in the webinar learned how MyBackgroundCheck.com developed a comprehensive Volunteer Tracking System (VTS) to meet the specific requirements for volunteer screening. The webinar also explained how VTS screening tracks volunteer applicants within an organization for effective risk management at the local, regional, and national levels, while also significantly reducing volunteer screening costs and protecting volunteers, communities, and organizations.

The webinar also showed how effective VTS screening exceeds typical background screening programs and can prevent exposure to volunteers with criminal pasts, provide fast and accurate screening reports on volunteer applicants, and be a low-cost comprehensive solution for all volunteer screening. Last year, over 1,000,000 volunteers were subjected to background screening services provided by MyBackgroundCheck.com.

In addition, the webinar explained how a “volunteer donation option” allows volunteers to pay for their own background screening, since statistics reveal that 20% of volunteers would pay for their screening if the money saved would benefit children. Combined with national pricing discounts, this could lead to significant savings in background screening costs.

The live webinar has ended, but an archived version of this webinar is available for viewing on demand at www.mybackgroundcheck.com/Business/Volunteer/Camp. To get more information on Volunteer Tracking System for screening volunteers, please visit www.volunteertracking.com or speak with a VTS representative at 1-800-503-2364.