Unfortunately businesses are very often targets of scams, so being aware of them and how to avoid them to protect your business is really important. You should invest in sufficient training for your team to avoid the scams specific to your industry, however we’re here to introduce 3 of the most common business scams to avoid.

Phishing Scams

First up we have phishing scams, which is where scammers will send emails to employees pretending to be from a position of authority, whether it’s from Meta if you work at a marketing agency pretending a business account has been disabled, it could be someone imitating a bank or a government official. It could also be someone impersonating someone else within the business. These scams often work by creating very official looking email templates that are very similar to the real thing, then also having official looking email addresses. Usually the content in the email will encourage you to click through to resolve a problem (fear and urgency are tactics often used) and then malware will be installed on the device that compromises the cyber security of the business. All employees should have thorough phishing training to protect your business.

Investment Scams

Next we have investment scams, which persuade people to invest in high risk investments that promise a good return quickly. Scammers will often pose as a legitimate broker in order to do this, also known as broker scams. Whether the investment is a complete scam, or it’s real but the consequences and risks aren’t fully disclosed, investment scams can be dangerous. Often it’s business owners that are approached about these “investment opportunities”. Sometimes they will request a small upfront investment as a proof of concept, get you the promised return, encourage you to invest more and then do a runner. Other times, they’ll simply take the first lot of money. If anyone approaches you with a promise of a great investment opportunity, again focused on urgency, then steer clear. If you are looking for investments, you should do your own research and find your own paths. If you think you’ve been a victim of an investment scam, make sure to get in touch with investment fraud lawyers and your bank as soon as possible.

Invoice Scams

Invoice scams involve people sending invoices to a business for a whole host of different things, from fictitious publications or for goods that don’t exist. Whilst scams like this won’t usually work in smaller businesses where each area of the operation is closely monitored by a small team, but in bigger businesses, you’d be surprised at how common it is for someone to just pay an invoice, especially if it’s a small amount. These things can easily go unnoticed, so you should have a system in place where every invoice is cross referenced with the outgoings database to ensure that the invoices are legitimate.