Nearly 10 million people a year fall victim to identify theft. It’s so widespread that celebrities, senators and even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have been swindled. That’s bad news for consumers. But if your business is the source of the information those identity thieves are exploiting, it could be bad news for you too.

These days, if consumers in Gainesville open their wallets, chances are the credit card slots will be crammed with a colorful array of restaurant and retail membership cards, rewards and coupons.
From the classic buy-one-get-one offer to membership clubs and frequent shopper reward cards, businesses are offering more and more enticements to get new customers to visit their doors. Here are some specific programs that local businesses have been using successfully:

Lately we’ve seen plenty of businesses that have responded to a crisis poorly. Who can forget the U.S. auto executives flying in their private jets to Washington to ask for taxpayer money? Or the Georgia peanut processor who thought it was fine to add floor sweepings to his product—resulting in a national salmonella outbreak?