Small business owners already have a lot on their plates – now add dealing with billing scams to the list.
The smaller the business, the more responsibility that falls on the owner, including being on the lookout for bills that aren’t legit. Scam artists have determined that busy sole proprietors and other business owners are ripe targets for billing scams.
Distracted owners need to verify who invoices they receive are from as well as what the invoices are for. Many busy owners tend to toss all their bills and documents into one pile, and pay all the bills at the same time. Crooks often will generate a bill that looks similar to an official document, but upon closer examination is a fraud.
Bills for everyday services such as electricity, water and plumbing are often the target of this scam. But scammers have updated their invoices to include web hosts, domain name registrations, VOIP and other modern technology that many small businesses utilize on a daily basis.
Business owners should be careful to ensure that all paid invoices are matched with purchase orders or at least reviewed by someone at the company before being paid.