How to help protect your business from fraud
Together, we can help keep your business secure.
Scam alert: Business Email Compromise
What's happening?
Scammers gain access to an email address and pretend to be vendors or people you know to fraudulently collect money and information. Unlike other cyberattacks that rely on technical vulnerabilities, business email compromise focuses on exploiting human vulnerabilities and trust.
Ways to help prevent it:
- Validate if the sender is legitimate by calling them directly
- Review the sender’s email address and make sure it matches exactly
- Don’t click links, scan QR codes or reply to anything if it doesn’t feel right
- Encourage your staff to be alert and report anything suspicious
Scam alert: Check fraud
What's happening?
One of the most common scams is called check washing. On a small scale, check washing refers to people stealing checks from individual mailboxes, erasing the ink and writing in a higher value to a different recipient. On a larger scale, washed checks can be duplicated and illicitly sold.
Ways to help prevent it:
- Take outgoing mail directly to the post office for secure delivery
- Don’t let delivered mail sit in your mailbox
- Write checks using permanent ink
- Consider using a Chase QuickDeposit℠ Scanner to securely scan multiple checks at once into your account
Merchandise scams
Scammers pretend to be legitimate sellers by creating fake retailer websites or by posting fake ads on familiar sites. You’ll think you’re buying real merchandise or equipment at low prices, but you’ll never receive the items.
What you can do:
- Determine if pricing is in line with what you’d expect — too low may be too good to be true
- Verify the seller or website, or confirm their store address
- Never give in to high-pressure sales tactics
Investment scams
Investment scams claim you’ll make big money with little risk by investing in financial markets or cryptocurrency. They charge hefty fees to learn their “proven” methods, or say they’ll invest your money for you and keep it in their pockets.
What you can do:
- Perform your due diligence — see if the company is licensed or registered
- Protect your devices and keep antivirus software up to date
- Get documentation or details in writing about the investment
Services fraud
Fraudulent contractors tell you they need to be paid in full upfront or that materials have to be ordered before they’ll start your job. Once you pay them, they disappear without a trace or do poor-quality work.
What you can do:
- Hire a licensed contractor
- Make sure contracts include a valid company address and phone number and a detailed work description
- Get more than one bid and avoid hiring on the spot
