When the telephone rings in our shop, we never know if it will be a valued customer, respected sales rep —  or a phone scam.  After so many years in business, I’m pretty good at recognizing someone out to get us. But not all of our employees realize that there are those who specifically target small businesses.

One of the latest is an IRS phone scam that alleges that there is fraud or misconduct on your part, according to Tanza Loudenback in an online article for Business Insider.  You are asked to call back with confidential information about your bank account and Social Security number (some of which the hacker may have already obtained). The simplest solution is of course not to return the call, but think of the damage done when a staff member takes the call and believes you are in trouble.

Another scam, and one that is being used against those renting their apartment or home through AirBnB, is for the scammer to arrange to send a check that includes an overpayment.  You will then be asked for to refund the difference before the check will clear. It won’t clear, of course.

Phishing scams are perpetuated via email, and can be used to download a virus onto your store computer.  Don’t open attachments on suspicious emails.  Even if the message and title seems legitimate, click on the expanded email address of the sender.  The latest in this type of email purports to be from FedEx, but if you look at the sender on one that we recently received (as an example), the actual sender is “[email protected].”

We have had employees take calls from businesses selling goods or services (such as office supplies, award plaques and directory advertising) that ask the employee for their name, which is then recorded and played back when you ask who authorized the purchase.  It is a good idea to let your staff members know that they should not get involved in conversations with suppliers unknown to them.

It’s sad to think that we need to be on the lookout for those out to cheat us, but as the saying goes, better safe than sorry.

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder