Vegan Food Truck Business Podcast

Food Truck Scam Prevention: Protect Your Business from Fraud (Ep. 11)

• Heather Zeitzwolfe • Season 1 • Episode 11

Share episode

Send us a text

In this episode, we examine sleazy fraudsters and essential security measures to protect your food business from common scams. Learn how to identify and prevent various types of fraud targeting mobile food vendors and small business owners. 🛡️

Key Topics Covered 🎯

  • Online fraud prevention strategies
  • Fake inspector scams during service hours
  • Business identity theft protection
  • Common "to go to be true" traps
  • Fraudulent tactics regarding events
  • Credit scam awareness
  • Official document verification tips

Resources Mentioned 🔗

#FoodTruckBusiness #ScamPrevention #SmallBusinessSecurity #FoodVendorTips #BusinessProtection #VeganBusiness #FoodTruckTips

Follow Savvy Frugal Vegan:
YouTube
Instagram
Facebook

Check out the website for upcoming workshops, events, coaching, and more
Website

Heather:

Hey, and welcome back to the Vegan Food Truck Business Podcast. I'm your host, Heather Zeitzwolfe today we're talking about scams. Ugh, they totally suck. no matter the size of your business, you can be a victim of a scam. And for a small business, oh my God, this could force you into bankruptcy. it's really important that we educate ourselves as entrepreneurs to be cautious and vigilant and put in guardrails to prevent it from happening. Oh, there's so many horrible people out there. We just have to be super, super careful. it's not like in the old days when fraud was committed by some random, shady person, maybe like a couple of grifters coming through town, you know? Now because of the internet, most scams are getting. more complex and committed by organized crime rings. because many of these fraudsters operate outside of the us, it becomes nearly impossible to catch them. if you are living in the US and the scammer is located in this country as well, you can get authorities involved; depending on the type of fraud and the location, it might be your local police, or it could be the FBI. Now, if you live in another country, check your local government sites to find out how they deal with it in your country, Here's something tragic I want to address there's been a growing trend of scams, intertwined with human slavery and torture. I went down a rabbit hole on YouTube all about this because I just could not believe that this was actually happening. those carrying out the scams, they're doing it unwillingly. They've been human trafficked oftentimes tricked into. A promise of a job. they're being held captive. beaten, electrocuted, starved, not only is it shocking and I want people to know about this, but as vegans, we are compassionate people. We understand how. These horrible atrocities against humans are very similar to what happens to animals, torture captivity, and forced labor. It's just wrong Okay, so before we get all depressed about the evil in the world, let's talk about some common scams and how you can protect yourself and your business. there are tons of scams out there. these are the five different buckets I'm seeing problems with. there are other scams within these five buckets, Are you ready? okay, so the first one event and

permit scams.

Heather:

this is really, really sad We wanna believe that people that are putting on events are, on the up and up. they probably are, but there are people who pretend to be the event planners who are fraudsters. This happened to me on Facebook when I posted an event. luckily somebody contacted me and was like, Hey, this doesn't sound quite right. Why are you charging for this, blah, blah, blah? And there were people that had gotten onto my Facebook page, I don't know how they were able to post they were pretending to be the event planners and sell people vending spots. Luckily, nobody was a victim to that. I caught it in time, these people, they prey on excitement and urgency. here's how it might go down. So you get a message, maybe an email, maybe a DM from someone claiming that they're running a, cool market or big name event, It looks legit. These fraudsters are, in air quotes, talented They put up websites that look completely legit. And they're gonna name drop. they might even have vendors, logos on their website, but it's all fake. they may say things like, oh, the spaces are going fast. All you have to do is pay this fee to secure your spot. But it is a trap. Oftentimes, the event does not even exist. It's made up. But Other legit events, there might be scammers pretending okay, I am putting in air quotes. organizers But they don't have any connection to a real event. when you send them payment, you never hear from them again. be aware fake permits tied to major festivals, this scam has been popping up everywhere. they send you something on social

media, it looks

Heather:

legit. Okay, so what do you do? first pause before you pay. Look for an official event page, not just some Instagram profile, especially if this person contacts you outta the blue. even it's somebody you know It could be their account has been hacked and this person now is pretending to be the person that you know they'll start asking you for money. Always, always, always double check. with a person, go to another, social media account do your due diligence. Sometimes these fake accounts will have one letter off in the name, you wanna just make sure, is it. A public event, is it being listed other places? Are you seeing it advertised Just do your due diligence. Before you give anybody your money, reach out to other vendors to confirm that it's real if they're listed as one of the vendors, see if they really are signed up for this event find out who's running the event and contact them directly. Go through an official website Okay. think I've scared you enough on that one. Alright, so number two, equipment and supply scams. this is one of those, it's two good to be true kind of things. maybe you need a new trailer or truck or something like that. But you don't have a lot of money, you wanna get a nice, cheap price. you're like, these sellers have these great deals they seem really helpful and very eager to sell you these things, be very careful if they ask you to wire them some money. Or pay them through something like Zelle you send the money and there is no way to get it back. This is a real problem because you can pay all this money, but the product is never gonna show up Or they sell you a piece of junk and you're not able to get your money back either. small business owners can lose thousands and thousands of dollars being hoodwinked into buying things that were broken or they show you a picture of something, you think that's what they're gonna ship you, and you never get it. So how do you stay safe? Always ask for references. Get a signed contract. Use payment methods that have fraud protection. Don't use these peer-to-peer apps where it's like cash or giving someone cash or, check. Even these days, I, I don't rely on those kind of things. if they are not taking credit cards, that seems suspicious to me. but trust your gut. if someone is pushing, pushing, pushing for you to pay quickly, that is a red flag. there are safer ways of purchasing things on a credit card as well. you could use Amex. they have a lot of really good protections, but you know, it depends on your credit if you can get something like that through your business. Number three, payments and digital scams. This one covers phishing emails, and that's phishing with a pH, phishing emails, spoofed, bank notices, tampered QR codes and chargeback fraud. these scams you don't see the people. these are the kind of scams that hit your inbox and your payment app. But due to the availability of AI technology, even small time fraudsters can deceive and scam on a much higher scale They can write emails, just like the people you know. All they have to do is go onto social media. They can figure out the tone and the verbiage that somebody uses, somebody that you trust, through ai. they can pretend to be that person. Maybe they hack into their email and start sending emails that looks like it's coming from the right person, and it sounds like them, because they're using AI to develop the emails. This is so scary. that's why we have to protect ourself, you might get an email that looks exactly like it's from your bank or square saying you need to verify your info. Don't click on the link. Oh my God. Just don't. I've gotten things that look like it's from a bank, and then you realize, oh my God, this whole email is just one big image that's been placed inside the email. there's a clickable link in there as well. Instead of clicking on the link, go to the actual website where you log into your bank account. you wanna make sure that it's from your bank go to the correct place and make sure Just never believe if it says they need to verify your info, always verify. your bank is really contacting you. this is where many of these scams are from. International crime rings where people are being forced to carry out Online fraud. like what I was talking about earlier. This is the human trafficking that is plaguing areas in South Asia and these criminals are making approximately$3 trillion a year. This is really an international crisis, these people are not gonna stop if they're making this kind of money and nobody's doing anything about it. These scams are gonna become. I'm putting air quotes around it. Smarter and more clever all the time, and they're using technology to help them do this. Okay, so what can we do about this? Oh my God. use two factor authenticity for every account. Use different passwords. Don't be using the same password for every account that you log into. Oh my God. please make it a complicated password. You can easily get LastPass something like that to help you remember all your passwords. Don't click links from emails that you weren't expecting. like an attachment, zip file, any of those kind of things, do not click on those. Go directly to the source instead. Even if it comes from like a family member and all they're sending you is a link or they're sending you an attachment, contact them and make sure that they sent that to you before you open it up. It could have malware on it. You never know. Also scan your payment devices regularly to make sure nothing has been tampered with. There are scams out there for tap and pay where they're putting fake things on top that they get from Amazon. and then they're stealing people's credit card information. just make sure that you are doing your due diligence around your business. And never send money to anyone who you've corresponded with, just through a DM or text messages.

F

Heather:

they will con you into being their friend and try to sell you something and you've never seen this person before Also go to their Facebook page. And oftentimes they have no friends. It's really weird just dig a little bit further before you do any kind of purchase from anyone on the internet. Alright, Number four, fake inspectors and authority scams. Well this one usually happens in the middle of service. Like when you are busy and distracted and short on time, somebody shows up,

badge really

Heather:

quick, and they tell you you're outta compliance. Then they say, oh, I know you're busy right now, but you know what? We can this really quick. All you have to do is pay the fine.

They're catching you

Heather:

in this moment you've got a busy rush, you've got

customers you're trying

Heather:

to serve them. And now like, what? Now you gotta pay a fine. And oh my God, it's, these scams are designed to scare you into handing over cash without asking questions.'cause you're like, I gotta get this person outta here. I'm trying to make money here, it works, especially for newer vendors They feel intimidated or bullied but if the inspector is legit, they will prove it They won't flash you a badge real fast. I mean, ask them for their credentials. actual inspectors. They don't take money on site. They will provide you with documentation. They will explain your rights, and you always have a chance to ask questions or appeal. If this person with this phony badge is acting otherwise, then chances are it is a scam. To protect yourself. find out who your inspector is. Keep your permit visible so you know if they're like, Hey, where's your permit? and if someone shows up without a name ID or paperwork, ask for their credentials and call the department directly before you do anything else. because of technology, we know that ID cards can be faked. all it takes is Photoshop and a laminator. So get to know who your local inspector is, what their ID cards look like. do they have some kind of like holographic overlay? I don't think that's something that they could simulate. unless they are doing some kind of like inside job or something. All right, there's also authoritative scams by mail. I'm talking like snail mail. These fraudsters, are sending these things, Like it's a letter. from the government. maybe they're asking you to pay a licensing fee, renew your LLC pay taxes, if you're just looking at it quickly, it looks totally official. They send it in an envelope that looks official. It has that looks official and it has a lot of the jargon that will throw people off and make them think, oh, this is legit. I guess I owe this money. I didn't realize I better send'em a check right away. Slow down, slow down. whenever I come across these, I try to let people know, online about this kind of scammy stuff because my clients might be receiving a similar thing so always look at the address on there, the names, And if it really is from the government, there should be a URL that ends in

dot gov. That's

Heather:

for all the government sites in America. But scammers are now using text messages. pretend that they are from the IRS, local government, or from the state, Just don't click on these links. Do not send them money and. If you have any doubts, go to the official government website And then log into your business account. you should see if you have any notices or messages. Number five, Business identity theft and credit scams. You might think that your business is too small for ID theft, but that's exactly why you may be targeted. You are easy prey. banks get hit and they have firewall and cyber protection and all that kind of stuff, but us little guys, they know that it's gonna be easier. And if you're not keeping up with your passwords and you're making these like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or whatever it is, oh my God, please stop. if you are a sole proprietor. I recommend that you never use your social security number when you're filling out forms like a W nine or

filing your 10

Heather:

Only use a social security number whenever it is required, like if you're filing your taxes maybe, your local bank or something where they absolutely have to have it. Be very careful with your social security number. I recommend if you're doing business in the US, you get an EIN from the IRS. It takes a few minutes to fill out. It doesn't cost anything. this is like the social security number for your business. This EIN. It will help to protect your personal finances by using this number instead of your social security number. even with an EIN, you still need to take precaution scammers don't need much. Like with, your business name, address, and your EIN, they can open up lines of credits, they can apply for loans or they can impersonate your company online. this is some scary stuff, right? and a lot of this info is in public records. floating around out there. the effects may not show up right away. Like if your business is applying for a credit card or a loan and you get denied, you're like, whoa, wait, wait a minute. I have great credit. What happened? Ugh. Okay, here's how to protect yourself. check your business credit. At least once a year. I use Credit Karma to check my personal credit, you can do the same thing for your business. you can use companies like Experian to run a credit report or services online like Nvis, NAV, or Dun and Bradstreet, which has been around forever. I'll share the links in the show notes, but just be mindful of the info you share on forms, don't be afraid to follow up with questions. When somebody asks for sensitive details, Oftentimes that's a red flag. if you are located in the US and you're a victim of a cyber crime, you can file a complaint through the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. if you're not in the US, please find. what your country uses for reporting cyber crime. you may think like, oh God, why bother? please do, because other people have probably suffered from the same cyber crime as you. the more information we give the FBI around this, there may be a better chance you get some money back, or something will happen to these fraudsters. Alright. I don't mean to scare you, some of these things you're totally aware of, but you're like, ah, whatever. It's not gonna happen to me. but these scams are getting more high tech, they're getting more creative, coordinated. in some cases, it could be linked to cruelty against another human being. But that doesn't mean that we are powerless, right? these are the three things that we can do to defend ourselves. One, if something seems too good to be true, it is probably fake. Don't fall for it. Two, slow down. Take your time. Think before you click on something Be very careful about what you download, the websites you go to. The people that you think are real people on social media. Number three, go with your gut. if your spidey senses are telling you that something feels amiss. Your gut is probably right. Use your intuition. We have great intuition. like the hairs on the back of your neck might stand up or something. Ugh, okay. They may not do that, but you might feel like this doesn't feel right. Don't. Be afraid you're gonna be like hurting someone's feelings or offending them If you go and ask for references or check something out, if they are a legit business person, they'll be okay with it. All right? Well, as a vegan business owner, you are already doing things differently. You're building something based on ethics, sustainability, and compassion, that is so powerful Because it is so powerful, it is worth protecting. do your due diligence keep yourself safe. If you've ever been a of a scam and you would like to share it on my podcast, please contact me and let me know. thank you for listening if you have questions feel free to contact me on Instagram at Savvy Frugal Vegan. And go out there. Be strong, stay ethical, and don't let those scammers get you.