After Suelyn Farel got an email alert that someone had downloaded her entire customer database, she learned that two former employees had conspired to steal from her beauty products company.
Farel had allowed the staffers to keep working after they each gave notice in late 2017; when they left the New York-based Julien Farel Group, their passwords for its system were still active. The theft led the company’s database provider to block Farel’s access for four months while the incident was being investigated, costing the firm an estimated $70,000 to $80,000 in business. Farel felt betrayed.
“It was a huge eye opener. I’m someone who’s very trusting and I love our employees,” she says. “It really reminded me that I have to be careful, that possibly my judgment of the character of people around me is wrong.”
Employees may steal from companies of any size, but small and mid-sized businesses can be more vulnerable because they lack practices and systems designed to prevent wrongdoing. Their technology may not be as secure as at a larger company, and they may not have the staffing to provide the kind of checks and balances that make it harder to steal. The more familiar atmosphere at some companies may make it easier for employees to plan and conceal a crime and keep on committing it.
Farel has since changed her policies. The day staffers give notice is usually their last and they lose their access to company email and the rest of the computer system. She keeps a list of everyone’s passwords and makes sure they are disabled.