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Online fraud can be committed by obscuring information in the hopes of tricking businesses and individuals to hand over their identity and money etc. With the advancement of technology in the 21st century, unfortunately there is an even higher risk posed by cybercriminals than ever before. In particular, companies in the financial services, manufacturing industries and well as the technology, energy and pharmaceutical sectors have been impacted the most by online crime.
Online fraud can come in many forms including email spam, online scams, and online payments. Business email compromise is a crime which entails a company receiving an email with the sender imitating a known client or vendor. These types of emails typically instruct the recipient to transfer their funds to a different account as payment details have been changed. These types of scams can work as they often feature logos and names that appear to be credible. In fear of their future payments not processing, the recipient may give over their bank details only to realizelater that it is a scam.
Indeed, modern businesses are veering increasingly toward keeping all of their customers data online. As a results, they are susceptible to cyber thieves. In fact, dealing with online criminals actually elevates cybersecurity costs, which may have an effect on customers when they are expected to pay more for a product or service. Moreover, if a business is the victim of online fraud, there is the likelihood of there being a decrease in their revenue. This is because customers can become apprehensive about placing their trust in a business that has been taken advantage of by cyber criminals. They also may choose another company to protect their money and their identity.
In this light, there are many ways you can protect your business from fraud. If your business has been a victim of business check fraud the best option would be to protect it against fraud and counterfeit activity with secure checks. These employ security holograms in the checks which serves to verify any checks coming through making counterfeiting almost impossible. It is even more crucial to protect your business against business check fraud as banks do not provide the same protection for this type of fraud than they would for consumer checking accounts. Moreover, there should be a list of red flags to watch out for including incorrect spelling or grammar, if the sender has an urgent tone and if they provide vague information in their email.
If you have taken these precautions, but your business has still been affected by online fraud, you will need to take further steps. Firstly, you should contact the accounting department at your business as well as your Western Union Business Solutions representative, to make a report. You should also keep records of ALL contact made with the fraudster as evidence of what has happened. Next, you should report the incident to your local law enforcement. You would also be advised to stop any payments to this contact until the matter has been addressed.
To conclude, companies can lose billions to cybercrime and online fraud every year. This number is also estimated to be larger than this as not every cybercrime that has happened is reported. Coming to terms with the fact that your business has become a victim to a cyber-attack can be upsetting and worrying. In this light, it is important to notify the right parties so action can be taken.
Cyberattacks can have a drastic effect on the relationship between customers and a company. This is why businesses must be vigilant with regard to online fraud. In order to minimize the chances of becoming a victim to fraud in the future, you should also take a note of any warning signs that may be alerting you to the fact that something is a scam.
