It's the busiest time of the year, and businesses are often targets of Scrooge-like frauds, resulting in costly consequences. It's important to take extra precautions to identify, avoid, and guard against holiday scams.

1.       Business Email Compromise (BEC): BEC fraud is a social engineering scam that usually begins with a phishing email targeting people who pay bills in businesses and nonprofit organizations. A scammer will pose as a vendor, client, or executive who emails an employee and asks them to wire money, buy gift cards, or provide sensitive information. The money goes into an account controlled by the fraudster.

• Holiday Twist: Fraudsters impersonate the boss and email staff to purchase gift cards for a holiday party or donate to a cause.  
• Smart Solution: Create and follow verification procedures for account revision and payment changes carefully. Listen to your instincts and be particularly cautious about changes to payment instructions or unusual requests.

2.       Phony Websites: Fraudsters create fake websites and hijack your company name, address, logo, and web content to impersonate your business and deceive unsuspecting visitors. The reputation of your business is at risk when customers fall victim to scammers because they think your company is responsible.

• Holiday Twist: Scammers place ads on social media using your company name or logo, leading to an imposter website. 
• Smart Solution: Monitor social media and create alerts for mentions of your company name. Remind customers of your legitimate webpage and contact information.

3.       Phony Invoices: Businesses receive fake invoices demanding payment for products or services never ordered or received. The most common topics include office supplies, website/domain hosting services, and directory listings.

• Holiday Twist: Keep an eye out for fake invoices for holiday decorations, party supplies, or end-of-year invoices for things you did not order. 
• Smart Solution: Scrutinize invoices and warn accounting staff of the potential for fake bills.

4.       Phishing Scams: Scammers attempt to steal sensitive information by sending what appears to be a legitimate email or text message. If you click the link, you may download a virus that captures personal information or prompts you to enter, and then captures, credentials, bank account or credit card details.

• Holiday Twist: Fraudsters send a virtual card or holiday video that looks like it is from a legitimate company, vendor, or employee. Fake delivery alerts are also a popular scam during the holidays.
• Smart Solution: Be cautious of unsolicited messages and messages that use urgency or fear. Do not click on links in email or text messages. Always navigate directly to a trusted service’s site, particularly to check package delivery.

5.       Fake Artificial Intelligence (AI) Services: Scammers pose as a legitimate business offering a free trial of their AI service to help streamline your business, and then either do not deliver or impose undisclosed fees.  

• Holiday Twist: An imposter may offer you an AI solution for your end-of-year inventory, hoping you are too busy to double-check their authenticity.  
• Smart Solution: Exercise caution, especially if the offer is too good to be true and always ask for references.

Don’t let scams ruin your holiday season. Follow these general best practices:

• Maintain good records. Keep documentation of all orders and purchases.  
• Shore up payment procedures. Establish an approval process for transactions above a certain dollar amount. 
• Double-check vendors. Make sure the vendor contacting you is legitimate. If you are not sure, do not click. 
• Be careful sharing information. Do not give out information about your business unless you know how the information will be used and who is receiving the data. 
• Protect devices. Make sure you have proper computer protection software and a firewall. Set up automatic software updates wherever possible. Do not click on links in unsolicited emails or texts. 
• Spread the word. If your employees and colleagues are educated on the various types of scams, they will be more likely to identify and report them to help prevent fraud.

Your security is our top priority. We will never contact you asking for your financial or personal information, nor will we ask a third party to log in to your computer to unlock your access.

If you receive a message requesting confidential information that claims to be from us, do not click any links. Instead, contact us immediately. It is critical to share this information with your team and continue to foster a vigilant workforce with regular training to help safeguard your business.