NASTF is advising shops to be aware of the risks that posting vehicle security related certifications and other personal and business documents on publicly available websites after it recently foiled attempts to use stolen identity information.

The NASTF Vehicle Security Professional (VSP) Registry Team recently identified a fraudulent VSP account, created using stolen personal and business identities.

Two layers of the NASTF background check process alerted the Registry Team to suspicious behaviour.

The account was immediately terminated and the fraudsters tagged for criminal referral to law enforcement.

The NASTF internal inquiry revealed that the victim of this crime inadvertently made themselves an easy target for an identity thief.

This is not the first incident of NASTF terminating account access for VSP accounts created with stolen information.

While advertising is important, be cautious not to link copies of business documents and personal information to your websites and social media accounts, says NASTF.

In this specific incident, to assure consumers that the company was properly registered and insured, copies of the business licenses, locksmith certificates for employees, and a copy of the certificate of insurance were posted to the website.

Each of these documents was downloaded, altered, and submitted on the NASTF SDRM VSP application by the fraudsters.

As NASTF is seeing more of these business identity takeovers, we are reminding our members to keep a watchful eye on their public information. Whenever we see these types of attempts to get into the VSP registry, we notify the business so they can mitigate any damage.

NASTF reminds shops that there are many reasons for fraudsters to try to use the reputation and financial status of your good business in bad ways.

NASTF asks shops to refer any questions regarding their VSP account to support@nastf.org or 810.289.4809.