Small business owners work tirelessly to build and grow their businesses. Despite their best efforts, many have fallen prey to some sort of scam. Numerous scammers target small businesses specifically but there are things you can do to prevent these criminals from taking advantage of you.

Prepare

To help defend your business against potential phishing scams, it is crucial that you have firewall and anti-virus software installed on all of your business hardware. Keep in mind it is important to keep your anti-virus software up to date. We also recommend that you compile a physical or digital list of all of your vendor names and contact information.

Verify

Make sure that your list of vendor names and contact information is easily accessible to anyone responsible for paying invoices for your business. Invoice scams are especially abundant, with many being reported in the news recently. With business owners receiving multiple bills each month, it has been easy for scammers to receive payment on the fake invoices they send. Some common fake invoices include office supplies, cleaning supplies, memberships, advertisements that never ran, and domain name hosting. Many of our clients have reported receiving invoices for domain name hosting that were total scams. Know the name of your host and add it to the vendor list. If something is suspicious, verify it. Regardless of how legit it may look, contact the vendor, IRS, bank, etc. directly using the contact information on your list.

Report

If you find that you have been the victim of some sort of phishing or invoice scam it is important that you file a report with the Federal Trade Commission. Your report could help protect your community from scams and bad business practices. The Federal Trade Commission states that each report is shared with over 3,000 law enforcers.

At Ocoos Web Consulting, we work with small businesses to create safe, reliable, and high-quality web-based products. Whether you are in need of a new website, or just looking to rebrand and refresh your current one, we are here to make sure you feel confident in your web presence, branding, and content. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.