Monitoring Employees

Auto dealerships are fast-paced, complex enterprises dealing with high-value assets. They can easily earn 10 times the revenue in a day that an employee might earn in a year. When temptation is great, trust is at a premium.

Dealerships must implement—and employees must accept—measures to prevent fraud by staff members.

These include:

• Rigorous pre-employment screening for any evidence of unethical or fraudulent conduct in the past;
• Pre- and post-employment monitoring, to the extent allowed by law, for factors that might entice an employee to commit fraud, such as financial distress or substance abuse; and

If it’s on the Internet, it’s Gotta be True, Right?

Call it a virtual company, and a real scam. A criminal created a website for a non-existent vehicle distributorship, complete with vehicle images and information from dealer websites.

An insured purchased a vehicle from this outfit solely through email correspondence; he wired money for the car without ever seeing it or speaking with anyone. He’s still waiting for delivery.

• “Checks and balances” within dealer transactions to make sure that more than one “set of eyes” reviews every sale and financing arrangement (as is typically the case).

As stated above, dealerships are advised to get MVRs on all employees, not just those expected to operate vehicles on a regular basis. Not only is it likely that every employee will drive a dealer vehicle at some point, an individual’s MVR is a reflection of his or her level of personal responsibility and concern for motor safety.