In our last blog, we highlighted some of the dangers businesses face from fraudulent operators posing as legit companies, but whose real intention is just to rip you off.

So what can you do to avoid these risks? The answer is all about due diligence and knowing exactly who you are dealing with before you make a payment or sign a contract. Nowadays, formal ‘Know Your Customer’ or KYC background check services are available as byproducts of strict anti-fraud regulations in the financial industry.

But as useful as such services are, there are simple things every business can do directly for themselves to check out the credentials of any potential new client or supplier. Here are three simple steps to take to avoid being ripped off.

Read more: How Can You Ensure That You’re Dealing With A Legitimate Company?

With incidents of fraud on the rise over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re all having to be even more vigilant in our dealings, especially online.

But while the risks of phishing scams and lax digital security are well known, companies are still very much at risk from a more traditional approach to con artistry - doing business with cowboy operators whose primary aim is to rip you off.

Read more: Legit or Leg It? The Dangers of Dealing With Less Than Reputable Operators

The government is set to take action to slam shut a loophole in insolvency rules frequently used by unscrupulous directors to escape investigation over failed companies.

Creditors have long complained that the Insolvency Service’s inability to open cases into dissolved companies has handed directors an opportunity to dodge accusations of malpractice.

Read more: Dissolution Loophole for Rogue Directors To Be Closed At Long Last

It’s a sad but well-documented fact that the most unscrupulous individuals will happily try to exploit any crisis for their own gain.

So it was in spring 2020, almost as soon as the first COVID-19 lockdown kicked into gear, that there was a wave of reports of pandemic-related email and phone scams, trying on everything from fraudulent PPE sales to ‘phishing’ for personal information through bogus medical registrations. 

Read more: Warning Issued About Insolvency Debt Recovery Scam