How To Avoid Business Scams
One of the business vices one can only wish away is business scams, a reputable business mogul once said scam in business is inevitable, it is actually one thing we don’t want but it is part of the vices you get to encounter, this is something that will happen, it then depends if business has what it take to survive damaging scams when it happens.
The question now is how do you even identify when fraud is on? Since the focus of this article is on the business scams and how to avoid them. I will also list out some of the top scams you might encounter when running your business; however, my focus will be on how to avoid scams as a business owner, entrepreneur or a CEO of the company.
Since scam or fraud is one of the things you encounter in business as a business owner and scammers do not come to you as scammers but as legitimate business people too, how do you then identify them, talk more of avoiding them? It’s even worse now with the advent of the internet, back in the day it was more of a face to face activity, these days you do not even get to meet the person scamming you, and a lot has perfected these online scams.
Some of the topics being discussed a different business seminar has always been Business fraud and how to prevent it, how business owners can protect themselves from scams, how you can avoid business scams etc, types of business fraud, there is one I attended, the focus was on Online fraud Detection, it’s even worst in the financial sector, there you have insurance and banking fraud.
What Is Business Scams?
First a scam can be defined as a dishonest scheme by an individual with the sole aim of extorting money or valuable item from the unsuspecting victims. Usually, there are no warning signs as the victim will not have any idea. Initially, scams were targeted at individuals before businesses began to fall victim, even small businesses are targets of scammers, non is exempted.
5 Top Business Scams To Avoid
Here are 5 top business scams you are likely going to see as a business owner, it is left for you too identify and avoid them;
Phishing Scheme – The internet has made Phishing scheme one of the common method both big and small businesses are scammed, this method can as well be referred to as a social engineering attack, where the scammer disguises as a trusted online source in other to steal login details for emails and other important company credentials, they either try to convince you to give them your personal details or they us dubious links, when you click on it your information is harvested.
Directory scheme – This is also common amongst scammers, here a scammer will pretend to be a representative from a firm that helps in your companies software upgrade, as innocent as it may sound, company’s important information can be retrieved through this means but most importantly you get to be making heavy payments on a job that didn’t really happen.
Other Business scams to avoid includes but not limited to the following;
Insurance fraud, Office supply scams, Business Email Compromise, Impersonation etc.
Top Preventive Methods On How To Avoid Business Scams
I have listed below some ways or preventive methods on how to avoid business scams by business owners;
How Well Do your Your Business – As a business owner having an absolute knowledge and understanding of your business helps you to identify when possible scams is about to happen, by having an absolute knowledge of your business means you know every aspect of the business from operation, target market etc.
Have A Comprehensive List Of Your Customers and Suppliers – This is as important as the first, when you have a list and detailed information of all your customers and supplier, you can regularly conduct a due diligence on your customers and suppliers in order to avoid being scammed, do this using what we call risk based approach.
Keep A Constant Check On Your finances – A business owner should be keen in understand their finances, by keeping a constant check on your company’s finances, you can easily notice when things go wrong, by understanding your finances I mean knowing the inflow or outflow cash in your business, monitor payment, have a specified method of payment, thorough verification on payments made and those who authorize the payments.
Be Skeptical – People might misjudge you as paranoid, but you need to be skeptical to avoid being duped, when an overly good deal comes to you check properly, don’t be too excited because of opportunity that is too good to be true.
Strategies against cyber attacks – The internet has become a major tool for scam as well as other online fraudulent activities, since most business have heavy online presence, device a means to protect your business against technology attacks, have a back up option in case there is a cyber attack on your system.
These might not be enough since we now have advanced means of stealing as a result of growth in technology, however, always be on the lookout, train your employees on the possibility of scam happening and a possible way on how to avoid business scam, as company workers can be used to scam the company.