Helping to secure your business during busy seasonal periods
For many businesses, especially in the tourism and hospitality sectors, customer levels can vary by season.
During peak times, with higher volumes of customers through the door, more staff holidays affecting scheduling or coverage of duties, and seasonal workers needing to be trained, even the tightest run ‘ship’ can see protocols and standards under strain.
This presents an opportunity for fraudsters to slip through your defences.
To reduce the risk of fraud, you should always try to:
- Be cautious when carrying out transactions especially with new customers
- Be knowledgeable about your business and the businesses that you trade with (including carrying out due diligence)
- Be secure (both physical and cyber). Regularly check that your cyber security is up to date
- Be aware – Frequently monitor your bank accounts to spot any unusual transactions and be aware of the latest scams that may affect your business
- Be vigilant – When hiring for seasonal positions, check references and interview the candidates, even if hiring through acquaintances or contacts made through networking
It’s always prudent to be aware, and to make your employees aware, of the latest scams that may affect your business. Your employees are often the first line of defence against fraud - both from external fraudsters or other employees that might intend to defraud you - and regular training could be the difference between catching a scam or allowing it to slip through.
Some current scams to be aware of:
Employee Fraud
This can occur in various forms and includes:
Falsifying overtime
Exploiting procurement
This includes buying goods such as stationary for work purposes but making use of them for personal use.
Payment fraud
An employee creates a fake record or processes false documents to generate a ‘dummy’ payment to their personal account.
Accounting Fraud
This can include, but is not limited to:
Impersonation fraud
Be wary of providing bank details for standing orders to new customers or those who don’t require them.
Invoice fraud
Ensure that payee details are correct. If an unexpected request is received to change existing customer details, always double check this with the customer via a telephone call before processing.
Mismatch of booking / payment names
Hotels and guesthouses occasionally have issues when a booking is in one person’s name but paid for in a different name. After the customer has stayed and checked out, the hotel receives a chargeback against them saying that the customer’s stay was fraudulent. When they check their details, the names don’t match up. You should always be cautious when bookings are taken which aren’t in the same name as the cardholder.
For more information about business fraud including additional scams to look out for and what to do if you’ve fallen victim to fraud, please view our business fraud page.