We’ve all heard of identity theft, but did you know that there’s such a thing as business identity theft?! Yeah, me neither…

But guess what?! It IS a thing! And It is shockingly easy for business identity theft to happen.

So what does business Identity theft mean?

Business identity theft is a crime in which a cybercriminal steals a business owner’s assets, silently transferring ownership of the company to somebody else. It happens when they file official business documents in order to make it seem like they have some authority or agency with the business. As if that’s not enough, they go on to open credit accounts and take out loans under the business. And usually, the actual business owner has no idea this is happening until it’s FAR too late.

Take Andy Pham, for example. Andy had a business registered in Nevada and one day a stranger logged into Nevada’s business filing website and, within seconds, removed Andy as the managing member of his company. By the time Andy found out, the criminal converted the company and its assets into their own and had racked up over TWO MILLION DOLLARS in debt.

So you’re probably wondering “how can something like this happen?”

As stated before, it’s very easy. In most states, you can just file business documents with the secretary of state with little or no oversight. There’s no one in the office checking documents or verifying the information.

It’s not always a stranger you have to worry about. Sometimes the thief is much closer than you expect.

Let’s say you have a business partner. You’ve been getting along great… until suddenly you’re not. Instead of arguing, your business partner decides to remove your name from the business documents. Yup, that happens too.

As entrepreneurs, we already have a lot to concern ourselves with. The last thing we should worry about is someone stealing our business.

Fortunately, Andy created a solution to this, Company Alarm. Yes, the same Andy we previously mentioned! Company Alarm provides 24/7 monitoring of your business’s information that is registered with the state. If any of that information changes, you’ll receive immediate text alerts so you can jump into action and preventing any further damage to you or your business. To prevent business identity theft from happening to you, head over to www.companyalarm.com. Sign up for a FREE 30-day trial so you can start protecting your business.

Want more information for your business? Check out: How To Form An LLC in 8 Steps.

Thank you to our friends at Company Alarm for sponsoring this video and blog post. Visit www.companyalarm.com today.