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More Tricks, No Treats for Scammers Targeting Small Businesses
05/01/18
It can be scary stuff when fraudsters target your business to bilk you out of money. According to the Better Business Bureau and FBI, it’s happening more and more often.
Don’t get tricked, be on the lookout for these top scamming schemes:
- Tech support alerts . Scammers pretend to be from a well-known company. They may ask the employee to pay them to fix a problem they don’t really have or enroll the business in a non-existent or useless computer maintenance program.
- Threats from a government agency. Fake government agents call threatening to suspend your business licenses, impose fines, or take legal action if your business doesn’t pay taxes, renew government licenses, or pay other fees. Some trick businesses into buying workplace compliance posters that are available for free.
- Make- believe directory listing. This scam fools businesses into paying for advertising or a listing in a non-existent directory one offering little value.
- Fake checks . You may be asked to deposit check and wire some of the money to a third-party because of an overpayment of some kind. Once it’s discovered the check is fake, the scammer already has your money.
- Need for account information. While this is an old one, it’s still used today. Someone impersonating your bank or credit card company calls or emails to “verify account information” to trick you to share your credit card or banking information.
As a business manager or owner, it’s a good idea to keep employees informed about the latest scams targeting businesses, and have a clear policy in place on how to handle a situation if something seems suspicious. For more resources, check the Federal Trade Commission’s website.
Source: Better Business Bureau
