Blog
The “Your Software Is Expiring” Scam: How Fraudsters Use Fear to Get Businesses to Pay
July 9, 2026
There is a certain kind of email that makes even a smart business owner pause. “Your antivirus protection has expired.” “Your devices are at risk.” “Renew today and save 89%.” Sounds urgent, right? That is exactly the point. A recent Guardian article covered fake antivirus renewal scams that impersonate well-known security software brands, including McAfee.
The 81-Year-Old Finance Director and the Case of the Quiet Payroll Leak
July 7, 2026
She was 81. That is the detail that makes people stop scrolling. An 81-year-old former finance director in Kingston, Tennessee pleaded guilty after investigators found she had overpaid herself more than $131,000 in unearned salary and benefits. And yes, that detail is surprising. But here is the part business owners should pay attention to: this
Fraud Is Getting Smarter. Small Businesses Need to Get Nosier.
July 2, 2026
Fraud does not look like it used to. That is the part I keep coming back to. Years ago, when people talked about fraud, they usually meant a stolen check, a shady employee, a fake invoice, or maybe somebody messing with the books. And to be clear, all of that still happens. But now? Fraud
The Accountant Had the Keys. That Was the Problem.
June 30, 2026
When most business owners picture fraud, they imagine some mysterious hacker in a hoodie, sitting in a dark room overseas, trying to break into their bank account. But sometimes the real risk is much closer. Sometimes it is the person who already has the password. A recent case out of Colorado is a painful reminder
Case File: The Fraudster Didn’t Break In. Your Team Let Them Through the Front Door.
June 25, 2026
Most business owners imagine fraud like a scene from a crime show. A hacker in a dark room.A stolen password.A bank account drained in the middle of the night. But in many real-world fraud cases, the criminal does not need to break into anything. They just need someone inside the business to open the door.
Case File: The Trusted Bookkeeper and the Missing $500,000
June 23, 2026
Every fraud case has a moment where the business owner looks back and thinks: “How did we not see this sooner?” That is the painful question behind a recent Iowa embezzlement case involving a veteran-owned business and a trusted bookkeeper. According to federal prosecutors, the bookkeeper stole more than $500,000 over several years. She did
Synthetic Identity Fraud Is Not Just an Auto Finance Problem
June 11, 2026
Synthetic identity fraud is getting more attention in auto finance right now, and for good reason. A recent Snell & Wilmer article called it one of the most costly and difficult-to-detect threats in auto lending, especially because fraudsters can combine real and fake personal information to create an entirely new “person” who does not actually
Accounting Fraud Risk Is Still on the Radar. Here’s How Businesses Can Protect Themselves.
June 9, 2026
Accounting fraud does not usually start with someone in a dark room plotting a major scheme. More often, it starts with pressure. Pressure to hit revenue goals. Pressure to make the numbers look cleaner for investors. Pressure to keep lenders happy. Pressure to hide a mistake that “we’ll fix next quarter.” That is why the
How Does a Business Miss $5,000 Fraudulent Payments? One Transaction at a Time.
June 4, 2026
A recent fraud case out of Norfolk, Virginia is the kind of story that makes every business owner stop and ask, “How in the world did nobody notice?” According to federal prosecutors, a romance scam allegedly drained more than $1.2 million from a City of Norfolk corporate bank account through hundreds of unauthorized transactions between
How businesses can prevent deepfake-driven fraud
June 2, 2026
1. Stop treating documents and screenshots as evidence A screenshot of a wire confirmation? Not enough.A PDF invoice? Not enough.A photo of an ID? Not enough.A Zoom call with the “CEO”? Also not enough. AI can now fake the artifacts. So businesses need to verify through systems of record, not the document itself. For example: