With March being National Fraud Prevention Month, we’re reminding small businesses to be vigilant in their daily business activities. Even though fraud can rear its ugly head in organizations of many shapes and sizes, it’s the small operations that are most vulnerable since resources devoted to fraud prevention are either scarce or non-existent.
The greatest risk for small business owners and managers is thinking that fraud can’t possibly affect them because their employee teams are smaller. “I know my employees”, “we’re like family” are a couple of the common refrains of businesses who find themselves on the receiving end of internal scams.
Yes, you should trust your employees and the vast majority of the time, this trust is earned and deserved. Nevertheless, you should also take measures to protect yourself and your business.
There are very basic steps which every business can implement to help prevent workplace-related fraud. We’ve gathered them together in this pamphlet as well as in a condensed version:
Another scam which often targets small businesses is companies posing as Yellow Pages Group and selling fake advertising or issuing fake invoices. While we’re working closely with the Competition Bureau of Canada to stop fake Yellow Pages organizations, we also want to remind businesses to always examine any Yellow Pages branded solicitations or invoices they might receive throughout the year.
We’ve also put together a brief guide on how to identify a fake Yellow Pages invoice or solicitation.
In the entire lifecycle of a fraudulent act, one of the most crucial and overlooked steps is reporting it. Help stop scammers by reporting suspicious businesses or fraudulent solicitations to the Competition Bureau of Canada at 1 800 348-5358 and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1 888 495-8501.
If you suspect your business may have fallen victim to a scam, your local Better Business Bureau chapter is a good place to start for information on your legal rights.
