How to avoid payment scams

Businesses in the UK are losing millions of pounds every year to scams. Which? Trusted Traders has advice on how to avoid getting caught out

Fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated but there are steps you can take to protect yourself and your customers, and avoid losing your hard-earned cash.

There are many types of scams that small business owners might come across but authorised push payment (APP) scams are among the most common. Your customer may be duped into transferring money to criminals instead of paying you.

How it works

The fraudsters pretend to be you and tell your customer you’ve changed your bank details. They’ll ask your customer to transfer future payments to a new account, which actually belongs to the criminals.

You can help to protect your customers by taking these actions:

• Provide invoices and bank details to your customer in person where possible, to prevent details being intercepted.
• Use secure passwords for your email accounts. Password manager tools can help to create and store complex passwords for you.
• Warn your customers to be suspicious of any emails, letters or calls saying that you’ve changed your bank details. Ask them to contact you directly, in person or over the phone (using a number they know is safe), if they receive any requests.

If one of your customers thinks they’ve been the victim of an APP scam, tell them to contact their bank to report it as soon as possible.

Knowledge is power

As technology becomes more advanced, scammers are finding increasingly clever ways to try to part us from our cash, either through businesses or our personal lives.

But knowing what to look out for can help you to protect your business and your customers.

Find out more

Which? Trusted Traders has teamed up with the CIPHE to help you get more recognition in the market. Find out more in the benefits section at www.ciphe.org.uk