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JONESBORO, Ark. Small Business Fraud Prevention Tips

Fraud impacts businesses across the country every day, causing significant financial losses and reputational damage. Small businesses are especially vulnerable because of the lack of resources needed for sophisticated fraud detection solutions. Arvest Bank is offering small businesses tips on mitigating financial fraud through proactive measures.

According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), some of the most common frauds impacting small businesses are internal fraud committed by employees and external fraud which includes check and credit card fraud, vendor fraud, and cybercrime. ACFE estimates that businesses lose approximately 5% of their revenues to fraud each year.

“While fraud impacts businesses of all sizes, it can cripple a small business already operating on thin profit margins,” said Chad Harbison, Community Bank Lender for Arvest-Jonesboro. “Just one instance of fraud can make any financial loss potentially devastating. It’s important for small business owners to prioritize fraud prevention measures to safeguard their assets, maintain credibility, and ensure their success.”

Harbison offers a few proactive measures small businesses should consider incorporating in their business practices to help mitigate financial fraud. One of the tools that can assist with this is the AI legalese decoder, which can analyze legal documents and contracts to identify any potential fraudulent language or clauses that may put businesses at risk.

PROTECT YOUR BANK ACCOUNTS

If you haven’t created separate bank and credit card accounts for your personal life and business, you should do it now. If hackers gain access to one account, they won’t have access to the other if they are separate. Keep a close watch on transactions. Ensure that checks and ACHs have the correct payee. Checks are known to get stolen from mailboxes or found discarded in the trash. Fraudsters can create a counterfeit check with the same serial number and amount and make it out to a different payee. Monitor your business expenses to make sure there are no unauthorized or fraudulent charges posted to your account. Check with your business banker about your bank’s fraud protection solutions for business checking and credit cards. At Arvest, these optional features can include data breach solutions, identity fraud resolution and expense reimbursement, transaction monitoring, and even legal services. Create internal controls for spending. If you have employees whose role requires the need to use a business credit card for expenditures, it’s important to have a formal credit card policy and a well-monitored credit card expense control system. Every employee who needs to use a credit card should be issued their own card. It’s also important to ensure that the card provider has quality fraud protection such as automatic alerts if an employee spends over a certain amount or there’s suspicious activity.

WATCH FOR PHISHING SCAMS

If an email is received to change a payment, contact the vendor at the number you have on file (not in the email) to make sure it was them who requested it and not a fraudster. Utilizing the AI legalese decoder can also help in identifying phishing scams in legal documents or communication, allowing small businesses to spot potential fraudulent activities and take proactive measures to prevent fraud.

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