Today, scammers are getting tech-savvy and taking advantage of the unsuspecting business owners. By using different tactics such as cold calls or ads on legit websites, scammers are able to steal money from businesses, including crucial personal information.
That unusual phone call, text message or email you receive might be a trap set by scammers with bad intentions. If you are suspicious about an email you received or a text message from an unknown number, don’t click any links you find in them.
Scammers may use phone calls to trick businesses into scams such as wired money or business loans. To avoid falling victim to such scams, be careful about the information you share over the phone. These days fraudsters may disguise themselves as callers from reputable companies.
By observing the following practices like phone number search and background check, you can prevent being scammed:
1. Do not answer the strange emails
Email is a great communication tool that is used by businesses to convey information relating to the latest services and products. However, emails can also be used by scammers to send malicious documents to businesses, which can cause them a significant loss of money or personal information.
Most of the time, strange emails end up in your spam folder as junk email. Examples of junk email include hoax virus warnings, hoax charity appeals, and online advertising from dating sites, pharmacies or gambling.
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You should never respond to any strange email you receive. Scammers can use a fraud tactic called phishing to steal sensitive information like personal or financial information from businesses.
Phishing is a type of scam where scammers usually send emails to many individuals pretending to be from banks, auction sites, online shops or other credible sites. They then trick users into going to a site where they are required to update their passwords to avoid their accounts being suspended.
Before responding to an email, make sure you identify whether it is a scam or legit. You can identify a spam email by checking if it contains attachment in .exe file format, virus warning, misspellings, or you don’t know the sender.
2. Do not speak about money and credits or indebtedness without a lawyer
Reports show that one out of three adults falls victim to financial scammers. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Baby Boomer or a Millennial, scammers don’t discriminate by age.
Today we have online banking, payday lenders, Exchange Traded Funds among other financial scams, which are designed to scam from innocent business owners. Financial scammers are using sophisticated methods to scam money from business owners.
If you receive a suspicious phone call or email, make sure you don’t speak about money, credits or indebtedness without a lawyer.
Scammers may trick you into giving additional personal information such as your phone number or address. If a debt collector asks you to confirm your personal information, refuse to give them additional information without a lawyer. Also, don’t speak about money and credits to anyone on phone or email.
3. Always do an employee background check before hiring
A report by the American Institute of Certified Fraud Examiners shows that employers lose up to 5 percent of their gross sales to frauds. The same report says that the median loss that employers make is about $150,000 and it takes one and a half years to identify an employee you thought was trustworthy is actually stealing from your business.
To prevent your business from losing money to unscrupulous employees, always do an employee background check before hiring. An employee background check can minimize the risk of fraud by checking if an employee had a questionable past and indicate their behaviour in the future.
If a background check shows that an employee was convicted or charged of financial fraud, you should not hire him. The cost of background checks will vary depending on its depth. However, the cost should not stop your recruitment team from carrying out a background check since it can save your business thousands of dollars in the future.
4. If you receive a strange call from unknown number use Spokeo to find out the personality of the caller
Tech-savvy scammers have taken phone call scams to another new level. They may make a fake IRS call intimidating listeners that they risk jail term if they don’t report their taxes.
Others pretend to be charities and fundraisers asking listeners to contribute their money to a fundraiser campaign. Don’t fall to these scams.
If you receive a strange phone call from an unknown number, there are services that offer phone number lookup. Spokeo is one such service that offers reverse phone lookup to find out the personality of the caller. With Spokeo’s reverse number lookup, you can see who is texting or calling you. This free service can help you identify if a strange number is a relative, friend or a scammer out to steal from you.
To conclude, nowadays scammers are everywhere and you need to be vigilant to not falling into a business fraud. Use the advice from this article and protect yourself. Hope, you found these tips useful.
About author,
Valerie Malecha is a content writer for Spokeo. She has a great experience in marketing, travel, business and relationship sphere.
