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How to Protect Your Business Bank Account From Fraud

With bank fraud on the rise, it’s essential that you know what to look out for and how you can protect your hard-earned business finances.

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With bank fraud on the rise, it’s essential that you know what to look out for and how you can protect your hard-earned business finances. Text message scams, where cybercriminals attempt to impersonate financial institutions, are currently the most reported phishing scam according to the FTC, and small businesses are as much of a risk as individuals.
 
From phishing emails and texts to overpayment and business opportunity scams, it’s vital that you stay alert for possible deceptive or fraudulent practices that could result in revenue and even identity loss.

Bank Fraud Scams That Can Hurt Your Business

Business Investment Opportunities

These types of scams are where small business owners are approached about investment in another small business. But in reality, there is no business, and the entire enterprise is a scam. There are several different versions of this scam that you should look out for:
  • Online coaching. While there are many legitimate business coaches out there, there are also plenty more who promote services that will guarantee you revenue or very specific outcomes if you invest in their program.
  • Pyramid schemes and multi-level marketing. Again, not all of these are scams, but many are. These promoters will ask you to join a business and then try to recruit new people yourself. The business is recruitment, not actually selling a product or service.
  • Real estate investments. People can easily be lured into online seminars where supposed experts encourage business owners to invest in real estate for significant profit. However, these are typically fake and result in significant losses.

When you’re looking at new business opportunities, always look at what the true costs of a partnership or investment look like. Look at the type of product or service being sold and whether it seems genuine. The best way to research is to ask around and see if anyone else has heard of this business or worked with it before.

Check Fraud

One of the oldest business scams out there, check fraud, still happens, so it’s important to know how and what to look out for. This type of fraud occurs when someone alters or forges a business check, enabling criminals to access your business finances. 

Criminals may also write a bad check from one account and then cover it with money from another account, transferring cash between your business bank account and theirs.

There are several ways to protect yourself from check fraud, including writing checks in a black gel pen as this is harder to dissolve with the special chemicals used in check washing. If you need to mail any checks for the business, drop them off directly at the post office.

Data Breaches

A significant threat to businesses of all sizes is a data breach. This is where criminals gain access to vital business technology and can access your systems and data, possibly holding it for ransom.

Even if you’re the most vigilant tech user, a breach can still occur. That’s why it’s always good to have a plan in place ahead of time as part of your fraud management and data protection policies. Have data backed up off-site to different servers in case criminals gain access and determine how you can shut down your systems with minimal access and disruption.

Let law enforcement know as soon as possible if you think a data breach has occurred. This is especially important if you think you’ve been a victim of a targeted phishing or malware attack. 

Always use strong passwords and add multi-factor authentication to your logins. It’s also vital to train employees on what to look for in a cyber-attack, as most data breaches come from employee negligence and accidental information sharing.

Phishing

Although phishing typically occurs on an individual level, when this happens in a business, the consequences can be significant. Employees at all levels should receive regular training on how to identify and manage a phishing attempt, particularly as most attacks will focus on business emails that mimic the CEO or other important figures in the company asking for confidential information.

In June 2024, one of the largest New York-based hospitals, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, was the victim of a phishing scam after an employee clicked on a link within an email and entered their login credentials to view a document. Patient health records were exposed during this breach.

Emails that could be phishing attempts typically have poor spelling or grammar, an unusual email address, and a sense of urgency designed to make the recipient panic and click on the link within the email.

Office Supply Scam

Similar to investment scams, an office supply scam will involve a fake business contacting your company to say that a particular bill for office supplies wasn’t paid for. Cybercriminals will then try to get payment information that can be used to hack your business accounts. Phony billing or invoice scams also work in a similar way. 

Many of these fake invoices look legitimate, so it’s vital that you keep good business records to confirm whether these are genuine or a scam. One person in the business should handle sales calls and office supplies to minimize any confusion. 

Coupon Books

Small businesses may be approached about participating in a local coupon book offer. This may include discounts or exclusives for customers using the coupon. However, books may be oversold and distributed outside of the business’s local area. This often means that your business loses money rather than making a profit.

You should always look at the total cost to the business before agreeing to a coupon book while also asking about the number of books being sold and the distribution area.

Banking Tools to Protect Your Accounts

First National Bank and Trust offers a number of fraud protection solutions as part of our cash management services, including the following.

Check Positive Pay

Check positive pay is an automated system that matches business-issued checks against accounts and check numbers to safeguard against unauthorized check usage. If items are not on the issued items list, they will automatically return to the sender. This helps stop potential fraud through checks being cashed that don’t match what was sent by the business.

ACH Blocks and Filters

Another great tool for fraud protection is ACH blocks and filters. These work similarly to check positive pay but with direct debits made via ACH payments for your business. Authorized vendors can be added to bypass filters, while approved/blocked lists and transaction limits can also help flag potential fraudulent activity.

Cyber Liability Protection

A major benefit of our BaZing business checking accounts is the cyber liability protection. This protection offers up to $10,000 for the one business checking account or up to $50,000 for the VIP business checking account, safeguarding your technological assets against data breaches or cyberattacks.

Ransomware Threat Protection

As part of our BaZing Business benefits, we also provide ransomware protection for our one and VIP business checking accounts. If your data is exposed to a ransom-based cyberattack, this protection offers up to $1,000 for the one business checking account or up to $10,000 for the VIP business checking account.

Business Fraud Protection Suite

Protecting your data from falling into the wrong hands can be challenging. That's why, when you open a VIP business checking account, you gain access to an elite suite of enhanced protection tools. This exclusive BaZing benefit for VIP Business Checking account holders provides you with the following:
  • Business Credit Monitoring, Score & Report: Stay on top of your business credit report and get notified when suspicious activity is detected.
  • Business Dark Web & Domain Monitoring: Monitor the dark web for any suspicious activity involving your business’s sensitive information including your business name, business domain, phone numbers, business debit/credit cards, bank accounts, business EIN, State Registration Number, D-U-N-S number, and Creditsafe Safe Number.
  • Fully Managed Business ID Restoration: Gain access to a full-time fraud specialist to guide you through restoring your business's identity.
  • Tailored Security Assessment: Get help developing a customized cybersecurity plan and identifying the tools required to safeguard your business.

Use the Business Fraud Protection Suite alongside your digital banking tools to keep your company’s most precious assets safe.

Zero Fraud Business Debit Cards

Our FNBT Business debit card offers zero liability if your card is used for unauthorized purchases, giving you peace of mind whenever you buy anything for your business. You must report any unauthorized purchases as soon as you notice them on your account.

Keep Your Business Safe with FNBT

At FNBT, we’re always here to help you keep your business safe. Get more cybersecurity tips for your business from our blog and sign up today for a business checking account with BaZing Biz benefits to enjoy cyber liability protection, ransomware protection, and more. 

Add positive pay to your business bank account and explore other cash management services for your company. Contact us to get started or visit one of our convenient locations.



 

1 Subject to the terms and conditions detailed in the Guide to Benefits. 2 Insurance products are: NOT A DEPOSIT. NOT FDIC-INSURED. NOT INSURED BY ANY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY. NOT GUARANTEED BY THE BANK. 3 Requires additional activation to begin.
BaZing or Gentreo are not a law firm or a substitute for a law firm or an attorney’s advice.