Fraud Happens

We can all suffer from fraudulent activity. B2C, C2B, B2B, it really doesn't matter. Whenever it comes to making payments we need to be doubly sure of the who, what, when where and how of getting the payment done. When the transactions are happening in rapid fire electronically, it even more evident that we must be careful.

Protecting Against Fraud

Be suspicious of requests for secrecy or pressure to take action quickly. Always verify changes in vendor payment location and confirm requests for transfer of funds before processing payment. Have you noticed that when someone is constantly pushing you, that there is almost always a reason? And, the reason doesn't benefit you!

The FBI also suggests creating intrusion detection system rules that flag e-mails with extensions that are similar to company e-mail but not exactly the same. For example, .co instead of .com. Also be on the look-out for the "alpha-bet soup" email addresses. Example: john.doe@jidds9&^%tegbiffbosg98t68.com

EVEN BETTER

Another way you can protect yourself from B2B fraud is by automating your accounts payable process. With automation, the key is to create a pattern of permission to where no one person has the ability to:

• Create a vendor
• Enter an invoice
• Approve an invoice fully
• Enter an invoice into the accounting or ERP system
• Select that transaction for payment
• Print a check
• Reconcile transactions

The more people you put into this process who are subject to logins and software permissions, the more secure your company’s finances are. Automated fraud detection is one of your company's best lines of defense against fraudulent and duplicate requests for payment. On top of these steps you can even set up a two step process. 

Let us show you how to do this. We take it seriously.