Developments in technology and the internet provide exciting opportunities to build a successful business, but they also provide new ways for fraudsters to target your cash flow.
Only a few years ago it took a true artist or forger to manufacture a fraudulent document. You could easily pick out the photocopied document or a fake logo. Now anyone, with a little knowledge, can use programs such as Photoshop and a few tricks learned on the internet to create false documents and even signatures that are almost impossible to detect. Businesses are particularly vulnerable, and offenders can range from employees to someone you have never done business with.
There is no doubt that your business will become a target at some point, but the good news is that you don’t have to be a victim if you view your computer as your No.1 fraud prevention tool.
Remember the first lesson your computer taught you about trust? Not everything that comes into your computer can be trusted; that is why you run an up-to-date anti-virus system. Your anti-virus screens and verifies all incoming data, and then continues to run in the background to ensure that files are not corrupted. It relies on verification, not trust.
Why not do the same for your business?
Much has changed in the world; never before has spin been spun so well. It features in advertising, product brochures, investment catalogues, CVs; it is the No.1 sales tool, but does it reflect reality? Usually not. Its purpose is to persuade you into a course of action that benefits the person creating the spin, placing them in control.
Doing business based on virtual truth that is "having the appearance of truth” could mean that your decisions are severely flawed. Decisions should always be made on known and verifiable facts. If you find that a person is being untruthful, then there is good reason to reconsider whether you do business with them.
There is only one person responsible for the security of your business, and that is you. Fraud and corruption are on the increase; computers facilitate fraud, but they can also prevent it.
Simple online searches can tell you a lot about your new employee, partner, customer, contractor or supplier. Never before has information been so readily available at our fingertips – the secret is knowing where to look and what to look for.
Your computer can’t tell you what to do, but it can help you make decisions, and the best decisions are those which are made on verified information, which is worthy of trust.
Check this example out for yourself: You receive an invoice for an advert in a publication; no one in your company can remember approving the expense. The invoice is for $135 from NZ look Limited.