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Living in the digitalization era comes with a few downsides, especially for small businesses. Startups and small businesses worldwide are becoming victims of fraud, malware, scams, and many other digital dark arts that make employees lose a lot of funds per year in the process. That’s not good news at all, but sometimes the business owners and employees are to blame for not taking their time in checking multiple security threats, but this can’t be always the case as not everyone is tech-savvy or has time to educate themselves on the arts of cybersecurity, that’s why this article will promote multiple measures to understand How to Make your Business Safe from Scammers.
4 Most Common Business Scams:
Before checking the multiple measures that every business should follow to improve security and reduce scams in its activities, it is important to understand the threat. That’s why having a basic knowledge of at least the four most common business scams proves to be a game-changer, at least for beginners in the topic.
1. Banking Scams:
Baking scams are often related to simple tasks like sending money on transfers to strangers that trick the victim by promoting a fake identity like a foreign government official, a seller, a familiar or an online stranger that simply tells that an investment opportunity is on the scene and that all required is a simple money transfer.
However, that’s not all. Nowadays, there are many other banking scams like payment card frauds where the victims get their credit or debit card details stolen. Also, if a technological device that counts with enabled payment apps like Google Pay and Apple Pay gets stolen, any thief could easily target that device and move all those funds without any issue.
2. Phishing Scams:
Phishing and ransomware are often one of the trickiest and most effective scams in this modern society. The victims get their confidential or sensitive information stolen due to getting tricked with a phishing email that successfully copies a famous platform style and design. Phishing emails are getting too detailed to the point that is scary. These emails commonly request a change of password or update confidential/personal information to keep using their services, but sadly, that’s only a trick to steal data.
3. Fake Invoices Scams:
Scammers create invoices that manage to look just like the original ones used by multiple popular platforms that provide products or services that the business requires and uses on a regular basis. Victims of this scam method send a determined amount of money (the cost of the product or service) and then never hear it again from it as the money gets stolen by the scammers who created the fake invoice.
4. Government Agency Imposter Scams:
This is one of the most critical of the list as scammers disguise themselves as an important government official and threaten to suspend business licenses, impose fines, or even take legal actions if ‘taxes’ aren’t paid (taxes that end up being money that the scammers manage to steal from the business). Not having a clear understanding of the business laws in the region can prove to be critical as this scam method is being combined with fake emails from government institutions that manage to be exactly like the original.
Also read: Top 6 Tips to Stay Focused on Your Financial Goals
Cybersecurity Principles:
Cybersecurity counts with multiple principles focused on enterprises and businesses looking for ways of protecting themselves from the dark arts of modern society.
There are ten cybersecurity principles:
- Risk Management Regime.
- Secure Configuration.
- Network Security.
- Managing User Privileges.
- User Education and Awareness.
- Incident Management.
- Malware Prevention.
- Monitoring.
- Removable Media Controls.
- Home and Mobile Networking.
However, these principles by themselves don’t prove to be of much use to the traditional individual who just wants to keep doing their work without having to stress out for having to learn something that might not be too appealing. That’s why it’s important to take measures like promoting identity theft protection.
Unlike many other crimes, being a victim of identity theft can happen to everyone, and what makes it a threat is that most people don’t even discover it until it’s too late. Criminals commit this act to use the stolen information to open new credit accounts, file tax returns, or even to get other services for personal gain that might destroy your good credit and reputation.
That’s why relying on services like Spokeo Identity Theft Protection proves to be a good decision in the long run, as it won’t be necessary to stress out due to being the victim of identity theft as protection will be always there, and having certified fraud resolution specialist and available insurance is something that could be a gift from the heavens.
Perform Security Audits:
A security audit is basically a comprehensive assessment that the business should perform on a regular basis to have a complete measurement of the information and the system’s security. The system is tested by using a great audit checklist that contains some of the industry’s best practices and federal regulations.
Performing security audits will help protect critical and personal data from the business, identify security threats and promote better security policies by tracking the effectiveness of previously adapted strategies.
Verify Invoices and Payments:
Nowadays is extremely important that every email that contains any invoice or payment information is strictly verified before making any movement. Phishing might be annoying, but even a detailed scam has its own flaws. Maybe to the common eye, it looks identical. However, the only required counter could be checking the email domain from which the email was sent. If it doesn’t match the original, then it’s a phishing email.
Invoices are being adapted to become easier to pay and analyze. That’s good, but only when it works, as many scammers are taking advantage of the system to stole money from honest employees and businesses. That’s why it’s extremely important to check for details contact the company or the individual who sent the invoice to verify the veracity of its existence.
Conclusion
Cybersecurity isn’t getting the attention it deserves as the number of cases of ransomware, phishing attacks, and digital scams are rising every single year. It’s important for small businesses or startups to promote seriousness in this whole concept, as being a victim of these attacks isn’t a joke at all, as much time, money, and resources could be lost in the process.
Educating employees and providing them with simple yet effective tools against these scams proves to be all required to singlehandedly improve security, but that’s just a starting point. More heavy measures should be considered as the company or business starts growing up in popularity and services.
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