5 Ways To Protect your business against fraudsters

Businesses are some of the common targets for fraudsters in South Africa and all over the world. Banks, regulators, security experts and law enforcement authorities continue to explore various measures to protect businesses from fraudulent activities.

According to Marcel Klaassen, Head of Growth at FNB Business, “The common thread amongst most scams is that they need to access the client’s private information to commit the fraud. Therefore, the golden rule for clients should be not to share business or personal information until they are sure about the legitimacy of the potential recipient.

“Additionally, clients need to ensure that they comply with the Financial Intelligence Agency Act (FICA) verification measures which are facilitated by all the banks in South Africa. The FICA processes are designed to protect both individual and business banking clients against fraud. Some of the common scams which target business clients include: false requests to change bank account details, the deposit and refund scam, as well as business identity theft where fraudsters clone details of an existing business,” he said.

To help protect your business, FNB Business recommends some of the following fraud prevention measures:

Update all changes to your business information
Make it a priority to update all your business information with your bank. Information such as the physical or postal addresses and details of the business owner(s) is important in protecting one’s business against fraud.

Report all suspicious incidents
Clients often ignore suspicious or fraudulent behaviour when there are no immediate losses. However, it is important to ensure that safety is your first priority. Even if there are no losses, it is essential to inform your bank of any suspicious behaviour concerning your banking details.

Closely monitor your business bank account
Every business clients gets monthly statements through their choice of communication, such as email or post. However, it is important to regularly use online channels to view statements and general activity on your account.

Control access to your business accounts
Access to a company’s account is often delegated to a financial controller or the business owner but you frequently see cases where more than two people have access to a company’s accounts. The fewer the better as this makes the process much more transparent and potentially safer.

Do not ignore scam alerts
Institutions such as SABRIC often publish updates on new or recurring scams, to caution banking clients. Ensure that you follow such updates so that your business does not fall victim to fraud which could have been avoided.

“We continue to educate and encourage our clients to be vigilant at all times because fraudsters continue to come up with new ways to take advantage of unsuspecting clients. Vigilance remains the best approach to protecting your business against fraud” concluded Klaassen.