It happens from time to time that criminals try to contact you offering scam and fraud attempts.
We try eliminate those people as fast as possible. But you should know how to detect fraud and scam on your own and learn how to protect yourself.
Fraud and scam comes in many forms, there are some simple steps you can take to protect yourself from the crime:
Some scammers promise to invest in your business but ask for an huge amount of money before investing (e.g. $10,000). A serious investor will never ever request this!
Be careful about investors who offer large amounts of money (e.g. $100,000) and use mail providers such as gmail or yahoo. Any serious investor or investor group has an own website and does not use such free email providers.
Do not give your business plan to organizations or people before verifying their credentials.
Do not give any personal information (name, address, bank details, email or phone number) to organizations or people before verifying their credentials. Many frauds start with a phishing email.
Remember that banks and financial institutions will not send you an email asking you to click on a link and confirm your bank details. Do not trust such emails, even if they look genuine. You can always call your bank using the phone number on a genuine piece of correspondence, website (typed directly into the address bar) or the phone book to check if you’re not sure.
Make sure your computer has up-to-date anti-virus software and a firewall installed. Ensure your browser is set to the highest level of security notification and monitoring to prevent malware issues and computer crimes.
Be extremely wary of post, phone calls or emails offering you business deals out of the blue. If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. Always question it.
If you have been a victim of fraud, be aware of fraud recovery fraud. This is when fraudsters pretend to be a lawyer or a law enforcement officer and tell you they can help you recover the money you’ve already lost.
Please take this information serious as it helps you to pick out scammers from serious business partnership requests!