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. … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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. … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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: … Read more
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