EBI's own background screening library.

With the resources EBI has at its disposal for background screening, drug testing, and human resources management, we felt it was time to offer a consolidated location for accessing many of our best public research materials, hence EBI's background screening online library was born.

You'll also find a complete archive of our EBI Advisor, our periodic newsletter on the background screening industry located here.

You're welcome to use and quote any of these resources, in whole or part, as long as you offer complete attribution to this page and our site.

Current topic: Fraud Outpaces Identity Theft as White Collar Crime: Prevention is the Key Fraud has been in the news again lately, reminding us that although the American public fears identity theft more than anything, in terms of white collar crime fraud they are more likely to be defrauded by almost 2 to 1. The former chief financial officer for HealthSouth Corp., Mike Martin, was sentenced to 3 years in prison this week for his role in a $2.7 billion fraud at the Birmingham-based health care company. And the week before, a former marketing executive for Staples defrauded his company of over $1.2 million; he could get up to 20 years in prison. But what these high-profile cases fail to do is to make clear that most fraud occurs on an individual level, or from within small businesses. In fact, of the 650,000 cases of white collar crime reported to the FTC last year, only 35% involved identity theft. The rest were all fraud. So how are people defrauded? Small businesses often lack the kind of resources that would help them to catch on to fraud sooner; white collar crime is much easier to accomplish when the books for a given business are handled by one or two people. Fraud losses cost American businesses billions of dollars a year, and sadly, the likelihood of ever getting that money back are slim to none. Frank Abagnale, the once master forger upon whom the film "Catch Me If You Can," was based, warns victims that "punishment for fraud and recovery of stolen funds are so rare, prevention is the only viable course of action." So, how can small businesses protect themselves from white collar crimes like these? They can do it through a background screening process that incorporates a credit check and a criminal background investigation. Many career criminals will have multiple arrests for forgery, identity theft, etc. However, with a credit check employers can look out for telltale red flags like multiple bankruptcies or excessive debt. Big cases of multi-million dollar fraud make the news often, but the truth is that most white collar crime is never even reported, let alone resolved. As such, preventing the situation before it can even arise is the smartest and most effective way of protecting company assets, as well as the personal funds and information of both clients and employees. Call EBI to discuss designing a drug testing program to suit your company's needs.Our reliable drug testing programs will give you peace of mind about drug use in your workplace. Criminal records searches. Random drug testing. Reference checks. Everything for a comprehensive picture of your prospective employees. Call us at 800.324.7700 for details.

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