Don't fall for the scams

Are you aware of the sophisticated scams that could be targeting your business right now? Join me this episode as reveal the latest tactics scammers are using to compromise your financial safety, from email interception to text message frauds. I share a personal story about a conveyancing lawyer who alerted me to the rising threat of email interception scams, underlining the importance of vigilance when handling significant payments. Learn how to safeguard your business's cash flow and avoid devastating financial losses by adopting the right precautions.

It's time to equip yourself with the knowledge to make smart, money-saving decisions that will keep your business protected and profitable. Let me know what you think and if you've been a victim of a scam, reach out and share your story.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:35

You're listening to the Secrets of Successful Business podcast, your go-to source for business tips, tricks and proven strategies that will help you create a streamlined and profitable business. We chat to the best minds in business about their journey, how they started, what they learned along the way. How long are you going to give this Going harder?

Speaker 2 0:55

to get more Focus on growing more with what you have.

Speaker 1 1:00

What they learned along the way. How long are you going to give this?

Speaker 2 1:03

What compromises are you going to make? Just because you can do it doesn't mean that you should do it.

Speaker 1 1:08

It's really important to remember that it's a long game and, of course, we'll ask them for their secret sauce for creating a successful business. If you're not failing, you're not doing it right. You should be struggling at times. That is part of the journey. Join us as we take a sneak peek behind the curtain, talk solutions for those business pain points working smarter, not harder, mindset and the challenges of fitting it all in with the demands of today's busy lifestyle. If you're a business owner, side hustler or just starting your business journey, this podcast is for you. Now here's your host, business coach and content creator, justine McLean from Flossie Creative.

Speaker 2 1:48

Hello and thanks for joining me on the podcast today. In case we haven't met, I'm Justine, a small business owner on a mission to uncover and share the secrets of creating and running a profitable, sustainable and successful business. I've been in business for over 20 years now and I get to use all that I've learned along the way to help other women in business reduce the overwhelm, gain visibility around their numbers, charge what they're worth and make more money. It's about designing a life you love that fits into your definition of success. So if I can help you create the profitable business you deserve, please reach out Now without further ado. Let's dive into today's episode. Hello and welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 2 2:33

Did you know that in the first three months of 2024, aussies lost approximately $73 million to scammers? Now, while the losses are down, which is unbelievable, 73 million complaints have definitely gone up. So there's no question that our awareness when it comes to a scam is on the increase, but more and more people are willing to engage on these phone calls not knowing what the outcome will be, and most Aussies will lose up to $15,000 each to a scammer at some point in their life, unless they're really diligent. And, of course, as business technology improves, so do the scams, and it doesn't just have to be a business thing, it can be a personal thing as well. But the reality is the more time and money you spend in your business, the more things you sign up for, the more you put your name out there, the more likely you are to be on a scammer's radar. There are all sorts of scams, from links in text messages I got one of those just yesterday telling me I had 3,280 calls points that I needed to claim to those official looking emails to even the most subtle tricks that are employed by businesses. Scammers are really just having a field day when it comes to taking your money.

Speaker 2 3:59

Now, any one of us can fall victim to a scam. There's no question about that, and it can happen when we least suspect it. You're in a hurry. You get a text message, you open it, you accidentally click a link and all of a sudden everything changes. But the fallout for a business, particularly when it comes to cash flow, can be really detrimental. So, as scams involve, it's important to stay on top of the latest information and be really vigilant for those red flags. If it's too good to be true, it probably is, but here are some business scams that are going around right now that are worth watching out for.

Speaker 2 4:35

Now the first one is called an email interception scam, and it's really sophisticated, and I found out about this when I was selling my house. Basically, it's where a scammer is able to intercept an email and this happens in the blink of an eye and change out bank account details that are on an email or an invoice attached to an email. And then how I heard of it. A lawyer phoned me when I was buying and selling homes at the end of last year just to double check that the bank accounts that I had been given in the email were the bank accounts that were indeed the ones that I needed to transfer you know, house deposits and stamp duty payments into. At the time it seemed really odd to me, but as a lawyer who worked in conveyancing, she assured me it was actually a scam that was on the rise. So hackers are really looking for those emails where large money transfers are requested. So house deposits is obviously a clear one, but it could be for other things. It could be for a website payment, it could be money that you owe to another business and, of course, if you're the person who is on the other end of that email and you're just being given some bank details to plug in, then maybe you're none the wiser. And I think in the past where I've heard, the only time I've heard about this sort of scam is where an employee of a company say someone who's in an accounts department, would actually be altering the bank account details on an invoice and sending those through. And when I was working in bookkeeping and bad services, it was always really obvious because you would get an invoice from a regular supplier and there would be these bank account details that were different and so I would always check in that case. But the whole email intercept thing is really something to look out for. I think the rule of thumb here is that you know if you're in doubt, always check or double check on the bank details, particularly when you're paying a new supplier. It really doesn't hurt.

Speaker 2 6:32

Now, of course, you've got the text message scams from, as I mentioned earlier, the Coles you know. Click on this link and, kind of you know, redeem these points to the mum. I've lost my phone scam, but a big one going around is an email from, or a text message from, the ATO telling you that you've got a refund that you can claim and of course, we all have a bit of money, so it's tempting to click on that, but know that the ATO will not send you a text message. So definitely worth keeping that at the top of mind. And these impersonation scams are really something that have been happening for many years.

Speaker 2 7:11

I remember years ago when I was working in insolvency and we had what we called the tax agent scam and essentially what it was doing was someone was pretending to be a tax agent, someone calling from the ATO, and they were following up about a BAS that had been lodged over the phone and it all seemed very legit. They were asking for questions like confirming the business owner's names and their ABN, and of course, you know you're giving that information out and oh yes, that's correct, or they're telling you that information. Can I just confirm that this business's ABN you know that I'm calling about today is this yes, but that information's already available on the internet, of course, and they're suggesting that there is money overdue in BAS payments, past money due, and, of course, on face value, it might've made sense had I not been really aware, of course, that the tax department is never going to reach out on the phone and ask for money. They'd send a message through a secure portal or they would send out an email with a very unofficial looking request for someone to call them, but essentially what they're after is for you to pay that money over the phone. And because I knew what my clients owed in BAS, my default was yep, sure, let me give you a call back and we can confirm that further. I need to get some more information Now, immediately. What they want to do is give you their phone number, but I would say, don't pay any attention to that. No person from the ATO is ever going to ring you and give you a normal looking phone number. There are a series of phone numbers one, three numbers that you can ring to get in touch with the tax office. That is what you need to be doing, that's what you need to be working on, and it's one three numbers here in Australia. By the way, it'll be different numbers wherever you are.

Speaker 2 9:04

But it doesn't just stop with the tax office, because in another recent example of an impersonation scam and this is something that happened to one of my clients a bank employee contacted my client and advised that there had been a couple of odd transactions on their company account. Now this was definitely a longer form scam. I mean, we've all had those ones where we get a recorded message saying that we've spent money on Amazon. I had one where someone from the credit card department of a bank phoned me. I think she called herself. Someone from the Visa MasterCard department called me insisting that I just sent $900 to New Zealand. Of course I asked her whether that was my MasterCard or my Visa card that I used. 50% chance she's going to get that right and she chose Visa. Well, I don't have one, so that was pretty easy to kind of uncover there.

Speaker 2 9:57

But this bank employee scam is kind of it tends to go over several days, sometimes even several weeks, and this bank employee will seem really legitimate. They'll be really caring about these strange transactions that are going on on your account. But initially it's simply a phone call to warn you that they're happening. Now they say that the bank is working diligently, that they're using their security features to block these fraudulent transactions and, of course, if you're on the other end of the phone and the bank's actually doing something helpful for you, you're going to be wow. They're being so diligent and helpful, you know, fantastic, of course.

Speaker 2 10:34

After several days, the bank is then going to re-contact the person, and this is what happened to my client. A few days went past. My client was contacted again saying that the potential fraud had now escalated and that the bank fraud team had decided that the best way to counteract this was to create a new account, basically an online account, and transfer. All. That was so helpful that they said they'd actually wait on the phone while my client created the account and explained exactly how to do that in detail. Go to this area of the website, click on here, do this Now, of course. The bank employee then asked my client okay, now, what are those new account details? And I'm going to stay on the line while I check that everything at my end is okay. Of course, my client has created this new account. They've transferred all of the company funds over.

Speaker 2 11:28

But while my client was sitting there on hold, the alleged bank employee was actually somehow tapping into this new account and, once the funds were instantly deposited from the company account, took those funds and immediately transferred them somewhere else. Very common, obviously very serious and sophisticated technology that is going into this sort of a scam, and, of course, my client, you know, then, within seconds, was looking at this account and seeing that where there was you know, I think it was you know $70,000, it was now gone, and obviously that is a big problem for lots of different reasons because, first of all, you don't know where the money is and it becomes an immediate cashflow issue for your business. Now, my client waited on hold for the bank employee to come back to see if there was something wrong and eventually the phone was just disconnected. So they called back the bank directly, spoke to their customer service, who then informed them no, this is actually a scam. Now, initially, the bank was not prepared to recoup the money because my client was obviously acting of their own accord, obviously following instructions from what they thought was a bank employee, but still acting on their own accord, and it took months of angst and back and forth with the bank to resolve the fraud. They got the money back in the end, but it was still enough time, without that cashflow, that it could have bought their business undone, and so I think it is really important to be alert when these things happen.

Speaker 2 13:04

If you get a phone call from your bank, I would be asking for someone's name hanging up the phone and then immediately ringing back on the generic bank number, or I would actually be making a trip to a branch, if you can find one, so that you can make sure that what they're telling you is actually true. I think you know a lot of these scammers are completely undeterred, like the lovely lady I spoke to from the credit card fraud department telling me about that $990 I just sent to New Zealand on my visa card. You know that they apologize and oh yes, I've made a mistake. It was actually your master card. So you know, I think you've just got to be try to be one step ahead of them. You either hang up, which is what I would advise. I like to play a bit with the scammers, so I asked her what the last four digits of that credit card was. She immediately disconnected the call.

Beware of Investment and Convenience Scams

Speaker 2 14:00

But the point here is that, despite the government running these anti-scam technology and having these centres that are trying to help prevent and block these scams altogether, there are always going to be smart people who are one step ahead of everything else that's going on, who are going to take advantage of people who are either vulnerable or who are simply in a hurry to get to the next thing. So just keep in mind that if the bank or a tax department or another authority calls you, never divulge your passwords, your complete account details or other sensitive information over the phone. If they've called you, the burden of that they're legit really falls on them, and so, as I said, best practice is to hang up, get a number online or go down to a branch, ring them back and deal with the problem that way. So the other thing to do that you can always do if you're not sure whether they're legit is to just do a google search of the business, particularly if it's not something that's mainstream, like a bank or the ato. I think it's always worth calling the main reception number of a company if a company reaches out to you, just checking the authenticity of the call, mentioning what's happened on the phone and seeing whether it is legit or not. Certainly never share anything via email or text either. It's not just sensitive information over the phone and, honestly, no legitimate organization is ever going to ask you to transfer money or make a payment over the phone. There are lots of other secure ways to do this, so just be extra vigilant when it comes to that.

Speaker 2 15:41

Okay, so the next sort of scam I want to talk about are the investment scams. Now, these can be hard to spot, but they're definitely on the increase worldwide, from offers to buy cryptocurrency to fake bonds or shares, and even the odd MLM multi-level marketing opportunity. If it's a get rich quick opportunity or a sure bet, it could be a scam. So always investigate before you buy in. Now there are also some less sophisticated scams that are using celebrities or influencers, their image, to endorse a product or a service. And you know, in talking about these celebrities or influencers a lot of times, what will happen is these investment scammers will either use that image or create a profile that appears to be that celebrity's or that influencer's profile, and they will DM their followers and suggest that they invest in currency or that they spend their money on X, y or Z.

Speaker 2 16:43

Bottom line here is that it's best to refrain from investing or buying into the idea of fast money, especially if it seems like it's being sold by a celebrity or an influencer, because you just don't know if it is reality. If you want to invest, whether it's in shares, whether it's in bonds, whether it's in crypto, the best way to do it is work with someone who can legitimately help you to do that. If you need the education or to do your due diligence, do your research. There is no point buying from a celebrity or an influencer, no matter what they say. In my experience a lot of these, you know people are simply just taking your money and then their profile disappears. It's the same as one of the people who is an influencer on Instagram catfishing you. There's no difference in it. So just don't get sucked into that.

Speaker 2 17:37

I think the bottom line is really to just step back when it comes to this idea of investing or buying into fast money. You know, a lot of these MLM schemes are simply making money because you're buying a kit from the person who is on whatever level of the pyramid and you're expected to sell a certain number of these kits on and invariably you're the one who ends up out of pocket. It's not really a scam, but it definitely can. You know, while it's tempting to have that additional income stream, it can often end in disaster. So I think just have a look at your business before you're tempted to take the plunge. Do that due diligence. Sure, invest if you can afford to lose in multi-level marketing, although I'm not endorsing that definitely not endorsing that, but you know. But when it comes to listening to celebrities, listening to influencers, anyone who is legit is not going to be trying to sell you on cryptocurrency, a bond or a particular share on Instagram. I absolutely promise you.

Avoiding Business Registration Scams

Speaker 2 18:41

Now, the last one I want to talk about there are many other scams and I could record a very long episode on this. The last one I want to talk about there are many other scams and I could record a very long episode on this, but the last one I want to talk to you about today is what I call a convenience trick. Now, I can't really call these a scam, because they're not really a scam, but every time you get roped into using a third party for a convenience payment, you're essentially spending money you don't need to spend. And there are two big ones that go on here all the time in Australia, and it's likely that there are similar ones worldwide. Now, the first one is when it comes to operating your business, and, of course, it's a one-off thing.

Speaker 2 19:18

When you operate a business here in Australia, you need to apply for an Australian business number or an ABN, and they're free. And if you want to apply for an Australian business number or an ABN, and they're free. And if you want to apply for a business ABN, then you would go to businessgovau and just register. And if you're listening from overseas, then you'll go to the federal government website in your area and register for whatever it is you need to register for to start your business. But of course it is you need to register for to start your business.

Speaker 2 19:47

But of course, naturally, when you're looking to search for registering for an ABN, you're on Google. You'll get a whole page full of what look like really appropriate government websites and of course, as we normally do, we think, okay, the top one in the search bar might be correct, so we click on that. But no, in the search bar might be correct, so we click on that. But no, the actual government site to register for the ABN is about three or four down. It's not the top couple. The top couple owned and promoted by these third party businesses that are happy to register an ABN on your behalf, and when they're landing right at the top of the google search, they're obviously making money. So instead of getting an abn for free, people are paying 30, 40, 50.

Speaker 2 20:30

There was one that was 98 dollars that someone told me about the other day and that's just not on in my book. I mean, you can do it if you just don't have the time to do it yourself. It's not as if it's a scam, but essentially it's something that you're spending money on that you don't need to, and you're also handing over a lot of personal information to some random business that has nothing to do with the government, and I'm not sure what happens to that information, because I haven't been on the other side. So if you need to do any business registrations at all, my suggestion is to go straight to the relevant government authority that's requested that registration and just follow their guidelines. Now the other convenience trick and this is one that really bugs me and it seems to trip up a lot more business owners, because a lot of my clients have actually lost money over the years with this convenience trick is the old business name registration renewal.

Speaker 2 21:28

Now if you live in Australia and you have a business and you register a business name, you need to re-register that name every single year, and usually what happens is a few weeks before that registration is due, you're going to get a bill in the post, an invoice in the post for that renewal, and it will come from a business that looks pretty legitimate and you'll think, okay, easy, I'll just do that. But these are third party businesses and, again, they will renew the business name on your behalf. So it's definitely convenient, but doing it yourself genuinely takes you a few minutes of work and it's also going to cost you a third of what these businesses want to charge you. So when you renew your business name via ASIC which, by the way, is the only place in Australia it's the government authority where you register business names ASIC, a-s-iic, asic you'll pay around $42 for a year. If you go through one of these third-party businesses, you will be paying $199 a year, so definitely not worth doing. In my book. Now, the other thing to note is that when it comes to business name renewal time, asic will actually send you an email with a link attached which is quite ironic for you to go ahead and renew your business name. Not only there'll be a link, there'll actually be a security code there that you have to input to go ahead and do it. But again, $42 and a few minutes versus $199, I know what I would prefer.

Speaker 2 23:03

There are lots more convenience tricks that many busy business owners take advantage of. And if you're time poor and you've got the money, then okay, fair enough. I completely understand. But I believe in running a really lean business and keeping money in my pocket because it helps my family and my lifestyle my pocket, because it helps my family and my lifestyle. So I will always suggest that you stay vigilant and make really smart, money-saving business choices that are going to keep you on the path to profit.

Speaker 2 23:33

So scams there are so many of them out there. These have been just a few, but these are a few typical ones that I see in business all the time, and the last thing that you want to have to do as a business owner is to try and go through the minutia with the banks or the ATO or anyone else to try and get money back, get identity back, and to get things back on track after you've been scammed. So don't be one of the people who just randomly clicks or chooses the first link or says yes to someone on the other end of the phone. If you're time poor and you think that you might be being scammed, no matter how it comes through, take a beat, come back to it later, deal with it later, when you can really pay it the attention that it deserves, and hopefully what that's going to do is save you from losing a whole bunch of money and a whole lot of heartache.

Speaker 2 24:35

Okay, I hope this episode has helped you, and if you've experienced or been a victim of a scam and you'd like to share what that is, let me know, because I'll then share that with the audience. I think if we continue to share exactly what these scammers are up to and gosh, don't we wish they would use that intelligence for good rather than for scamming people then I think we'll all be in a better place. Okay, until next time.

Speaker 1 25:02

Thanks for listening to the Secrets of Successful Business podcast. For more information on all things business, head to flossycomau and make sure you hit subscribe on the show so you don't miss another new episode. If you're enjoying the show, please give it a quick rating or review, share it on your socials or with friends who might enjoy it. Catch you next time.