In the social media age, internet scams are pervasive, but business owners often forget to watch out for phone scams. These scams often prey on your fear to pay your bills or your desire to establish your reputation in the community.<\/p>\n
Almost 1 in 6 Americans<\/a> were cheated by scam calls in the last year, per a recent report by the US Spam and Scam Report by Truecaller. Phone scammers long ago perfected their pitches, but technology has made them more innovative in their tactics. Luckily, all Teltik plans come with free Scam ID and Scam Block, which alert you to potential scams and block unwanted calls. However, as they say, knowledge is power, and so to keep you and your employees informed on the latest tactics scammers may use, here are the top ten business phone scams to look out for:<\/p>\n You receive unsolicited calls from \u201ctech support workers\u201d who inform you that you have a computer virus or other issue. These dangerous computer scams often include Microsoft scam calls and Apple scam calls. The tech scammer walks you through various steps to \u201ccorrect\u201d the issue, but in reality, you\u2019re downloading software that gives the scammer remote access, lets him hijack your system, or installs malware on your device.<\/p>\n Scammers may then gather sensitive data about your business or your customers. They may also install ransomware that makes you pay to unlock your own files.<\/p>\n Businesses are often targeted for money scams, from Western Union scams to bank scams and bank fraud.<\/p>\n Bank scams make efforts to access your business bank account. Popular check and bank scams include:<\/p>\n Your customers aren\u2019t the only ones subject to social hacking scams. In the Information Age, businesses are can be tricked into to releasing sensitive information through business social media accounts.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, confidential information can also be given out unintentionally by well-meaning customer service agents through simple manipulation and coercion tactics. Train your representatives to stand their ground when faced with these misleading tactics.<\/p>\n Beware the toner pirate who will involve your business in a printer ink scam. Scammers will pretend to be office supply vendors and trick you into paying money you never owed them.<\/p>\n It starts with a questionable call to your business. It sounds innocent enough. A client or associate confirms an order, verifies an address, or offers a free trial of their office supplies. Unordered merchandise arrives at the office, and shortly after, you receive demands to pay for items you never added to your cart.<\/p>\n These are violations of the Unordered Merchandise Statute and the Telemarketing Sales Rule. Sadly, such scams can happen to any business. Recently, in two different actions, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged Maryland-area companies with sending unordered office supplies<\/a> to businesses and following up with falsified invoices. Fortunately, settlements were reached. Also, note that scammers may offer you a \u201cdiscount\u201d off the fake invoice total.<\/p>\n \u201cHello, it\u2019s Google\/Yellow Pages calling to verify your business listing.\u201d The drone of the monotone voice makes you hesitate, as you want customers to be able to locate your business. It\u2019s the one instance where a call from a bot doesn\u2019t make you hang up at once.<\/p>\n If you did hang up, this puzzling call may lead you to search for \u201cGoogle verify my business\u201d, which takes you down the rabbit hole of business listing scams. It turns out that scammers will pose as Google or other major business listings in order to make you give over confidential information or make you pay listing fees, while claiming they need to verify your listing or make sure your listing doesn\u2019t get taken down. The Google business listing scam is one of the most popular scams because of the search engine\u2019s popularity, and it\u2019s ability to make or break your business virtually.<\/p>\n Scammer calls will typically revolve around a Google listing update, claiming to need more information for your listing, additional fees to cover costs, or a verification of your business. They may also ask to update your listing in the Yellow Pages. In reality, Google and Yellow Pages listings are free, and they won\u2019t call you to verify listings. In fact, if you get one of these calls, Google wants you to report it to them<\/a>.<\/p>\n What do you do when a fake invoice shows up at your physical address or in your inbox? Related to business listing and office supply scams, these \u201cinvoices\u201d target you in the hopes you will pay for services or products you didn\u2019t order. You may have had a real interest in certain items, but they are never delivered or have no real value.<\/p>\n Common fake invoice scams and subscription scams include directory listings, compliance services, printer toner, paper, magazine subscriptions and signs. Beware of invoice fraud and billing fraud.<\/p>\n Utility scams target businesses threatening to cut off their public utility services or to make an overdue payment. However, your utility company will always notify you in advance, and in writing, regarding a disconnection notice. Never interact with these scammers, or you risk falling for an energy scam and disclosing sensitive information.<\/p>\n In some cases, utility fraudsters will even come to your door. Always ask to see identification.<\/p>\n You can quickly identify a fake utility bill by comparing it to existing bills and calling your provider. Unfortunately, electric bill scams and utility scams are among the most common types of scams to target businesses.<\/p>\n You receive an email indicating that you\u2019re on the INC 5000 list or other business awards that sound prestigious. What business wouldn\u2019t call back?<\/p>\n Local area business award scams are easier to identify than \u201cnational\u201d awards. One tell-tale giveaway is when the scammer asks you buy awards. You shouldn\u2019t have to buy your own business awards. Some of these are not truly scams, as you will get the award in the end, however there\u2019s no real value in having an award that you\u2019ve paid for yourself. It\u2019s better to spend your money on something that will actually help your business\u2019s professional image, such as a dedicated business line.<\/p>\n1. Tech Scam Calls<\/h2>\n
2. Money Scams<\/h2>\n
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3. Social Hacking Scams<\/h2>\n
4. Office Supply Scams<\/h2>\n
5. Business Listing Scams<\/h2>\n
6. Fake Invoice Scams<\/h2>\n
7. Energy Scams and Utility Fraud<\/h2>\n
8. Vanity Award Scams<\/h2>\n
9. Appraisal Fraud<\/h2>\n