There are rarely brand new original identity theft scams, just improved versions of older, more outdated frauds. And they’re now available at a fast food restaurant near you. A few years ago I reported on how employer identity theft was giving job applicants more than they bargained for, and that giving your social security number to an alleged employer before doing your own due diligence was a bad idea.

Now we learn that employees at a number of well-known fast-food chains have resurrected that old scam. Police in St Helens in Oregon recently arrested and charged an employee of a Subway restaurant with forty counts of identity theft after she stole social security numbers and other personal information from the resumes of job applicants.

During the sweep police found computers, printers, forged documents, and the stolen mail of at least 43 different victims.

At about the same time, an assistant manager of a Burger King in another Oregon city was arrested on 18 counts of identity theft after police said she stole job applications from the restaurant.

In both incidents the alleged thieves were not only using the stolen information to open fraudulent credit accounts, they were also selling the complete applications to others.

I think it’s pretty pitiful, but not surprising, that the most vulnerable in society are being preyed on by people they want and need to trust. It can be hard enough to find even a poorly paid job in some communities, without having to factor in the real risk that your desire for work ends up costing you your identity.

And it’s unlikely that these victims will be able to afford credit monitoring to help minimize the damage created by the thefts. I just hope the parent companies of these restaurants step up and help the victims, and if they haven’t already done so start implementing security measures to protect their customers from their employees.