Outsourcing work overseas can easily reduce many companies’ overhead costs by well over fifty percent. Production is more efficient in countries like the Philippines, and especially India, which is quickly becoming the outsourcing epicenter of the world. Statistics show that outsourced employees are generally more hard-working and reliable than native ones, so outsourced call centers are the most profitable kind. Nonetheless, they pose serious risks to consumers.

American companies employ hundreds of thousands of offshore call center workers. Outsourced workers are not typically allowed access to information like employment history, schools attended, or driver’s license numbers. This means when they confirm a person’s identity, they only verify the few facts that they’re allowed to see. This makes crime much easier for identity thieves to commit. They were bound to take notice.

At certain outsourced call centers, the employees are allowed to view nothing more than social security numbers and mothers’ maiden names, so that’s all they request. Some criminals get access to these tidbits of information and use it to their advantage. The victims have no way of knowing what’s soon to come, and are unlikely to notice until long after the theft has been committed.

When outsourced workers verify identities, they are also confirming which information matches what, giving thieves an alarming amount of power. Criminals can make limitless phone calls, using a trial-and-error process until someone’s personal information matches up. This is about the time thousands of dollars disappear from accounts without the actual owner’s consent. As if that weren’t terrible enough, it gets worse.

When legal issues arise in other countries, U.S. security cannot intervene, which makes identity theft even easier to get away with. Some companies have tried to keep the risks hush-hush. Others have taken action, such as those involved with The National Association of Software and Service Companies. This trade group created an Indian/American forum to help members handle privacy and security issues both safely and effectively.

Identity theft rates would be lower if call centers weren’t outsourced. There would also be fewer communication problems due to language barriers. However, in the case of most business, profit is the bottom line. More work gets accomplished in return for lower wages, and sick days are scarcely taken in non-American countries. It’s reasons like these that millions of local jobs are expected to be outsourced within the next decade. Identity theft risk should be expected to rise right along with the American call center workers’ unemployment rate.

Popularity: 14% [?]