Pre-employment background checks also are known as consumer reports. They can include information from a variety of sources, including credit reports and criminal records. When you use consumer reports to make employment decisions, including hiring, retention, promotion or reassignment, you must comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces the [...]

Late last year, ASIS International and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) issued a joint ASIS/SHRM Workplace Violence Prevention and Intervention American National Standard. I had the pleasure of participating as ASIS Standards and Guidelines Commission liaison co-chair with friend and colleague, Mike Crane of IPC International. The new Standard is aimed at helping [...]

There can be no argument, our employees are our most valuable asset.  They can make us, as easily as they can break us.  However, many employers don’t take the time or expend the necessary resources to seek out, and hire the best people possible. The result is often disappointment and frustration, and sometimes even litigation. [...]

 The Origins of Whistleblowing  History reveals that the False Claims Act, also known as the “Lincoln Law,” enacted during the Civil War was the first U.S. statute to formally recognize whistleblowers and reward them for their tips. The law’s intent was to combat the fraud perpetrated by businesses that sold supplies to the Union Army [...]

Employers are permitted to use consumer reports when screening employment applicants and when evaluating employees for promotion, reassignment, or retention—as long as they comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). FCRA (Public Law No. 91-508) Sections 604, 606, and 615 spell out their responsibilities and the methods for using consumer reports for employment purposes. [...]

An ethical and properly conducted workplace investigation provides many dividends for an organization. In addition to uncovering facts and essential information needed to solve problems, a successful investigation helps restore order. It also provides an organization the opportunity to analyze processes and system failures and re-engineer them to prevent future problems. Most workplace investigations unfold [...]

In September 1975, the World Association of Detectives held its annual conference at the Netherlands Plaza Hotel in Cincinnati, Ohio. Representatives from twenty-one nations were in attendance and on the first evening a cocktail reception was held to kick off what ultimately became a most historic meeting. As professional investigators and contract security operators relaxed [...]

According the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners 2008 Report to the Nation, most occupational fraud is discovered by way of a tips or merely by accident. In fact over 66 percent of fraud is discovered by these two means alone. Only a scant 20 percent is uncovered by audit. While not all tips are anonymous, [...]

I have received a great deal of feedback from readers regarding my thoughts on pretexting. Additionally, I have also heard from many members of the investigative community, most of whom are outraged by the position (or lack there of) taken by ASIS International. One such individual is Ms. Kitty Hailey, CLI, a long-time friend and [...]

Several weeks ago I took ASIS International and Jack Lichtenstein (Director, Government Affairs and Public Policy) to task regarding the society’s decision to define pretexting as “the use of false, fraudulent, or fictitious information in order to gather personal information during investigations (emphasis added).” I pointed out that using a plausible but false assertion to conceal [...]