<h1 class="page-header">Protect your small business</h1>
<h2 class=" toc-header toc-header-bullet">How scammers con small businesses</h2>
<p>Scams targeting small businesses come in various forms—from invoices for advertising or directory listings that were never requested to dubious office supplies that were never ordered.</p>
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<p>Protect yourself and your business by being aware of the common scams targeting small businesses.</p>
<p>Small business scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated and scammers will go to great lengths to convince you that the documents they send you or the offers they make are legitimate.</p>
<p>However, they can easily copy or modify letterheads, names and logos to make them look real, or set up a professional-looking but fake website. Scammers can even gain access to your supplier&#8217;s email account and intercept emails without either of you realising.</p>
<p>Scammers recognise that small business operators are busy and have fewer resources than large businesses, so they aim to take advantage of that.</p>
<h2>Common scams targeting small business</h2>
<h3>Investment schemes</h3>
<p>Investment schemes involve getting you or your business to part with money on the promise of a questionable <a class="wpil_keyword_link" href="https://www.fraudswatch.com/tag/financial-fraud/amp/" title="financial" data-wpil-keyword-link="linked" data-wpil-monitor-id="812">financial</a> opportunity.</p>
<h3>Online shopping scams</h3>
<p>Oline shopping scams involve scammers pretending to be legitimate online sellers, either with a fake website or a fake ad on a genuine retailer site.</p>
<h3>False billing</h3>
<p>False billing scams request you or your business to pay fake invoices for directory listings, advertising, domain name renewals or office supplies that you did not order.</p>
<h3>Overpayment scams</h3>
<p>Overpayment scams work by getting you to &#8216;refund&#8217; a scammer who has sent you a cheque for too much money for an item you are selling.</p>
<h3>Malware &; ransomware</h3>
<p>Malware tricks you into installing software that allows scammers to access your files and track what you are doing, while ransomware demands payment to ‘unlock’ your computer or files.</p>
<p>Whaling &; spear phishing</p>
<p>Whaling or spear phishing scams target businesses or organisations in an attempt to get confidential information for fraudulent purposes.</p>
<p>Running an online business can come with its share of risks &#8211; using the internet can open your business up to being targeted by scammers from anywhere in the world. Fortunately, there are plenty of resources online to help you out.</p>
<p>Learn to recognise common online scams to avoid getting caught out. These can include:</p>
<ul>
<li>taxation scams &#8211; scammers can disguise themselves as government agencies, such as the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), to trick you into revealing details such as your tax file number (TFN) over the internet.</li>
<li>online transaction scams &#8211; including auction or shopping scams, spam offers, online banking or credit card scams, or spyware</li>
<li>internet domain name scams.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Internet domain name scams</h2>
<p>These scams target businesses with websites by promising to renew or secure their domain name (or web address) before another business claims it. Business owners could be sent a legitimate-looking email or invoice with payment details for this service.</p>
<p>Under this scam you&#8217;ll be sent either an unsolicited invoice or email for an internet domain name registration usually very similar to your own business domain name. You could also be sent a renewal notice for your actual domain name. The notice could be from a business that supplies domain names trying to trick you into signing up to their service or it could be from a scammer trying to take your money.</p>
<p>The ACCC&#8217;s Scamwatch website provides information about the domain name renewal scam on its <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/buying-or-selling/false-billing">False billing</a> webpage. Do your homework to avoid being caught out.</p>
<h2>How to protect your business from internet scams</h2>
<p>The ATO&#8217;s tips for recognising and avoiding tax-related scams and fraud include:</p>
<ul>
<li>report emails that offer tax refunds in exchange for entering personal information</li>
<li>report emails which inform you that you owe the ATO money or your account is in arrears and you will be taken to court</li>
<li>always use ATO&#8217;s online services by visiting the <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/">ATO website</a></li>
<li>make sure you keep your tax file number (TFN) and passwords secure.</li>
</ul>
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<p>If you&#8217;re a small business owner, you need to be aware that you&#8217;re a target for scammers.</p>
<p>Scammers will often go to great lengths to convince you that their offer or request is legitimate, so it&#8217;s important that you remain aware of typical scams and know what to do if you&#8217;re targeted.</p>
<h2>Common scams targeting business</h2>
<ul>
<li>Grant related scams</li>
<li>Tax time scams &#8211; this includes tax refund and phishing scams</li>
<li><a href="https://www.business.gov.au/Info/Run/Advertising-and-online/Online-scams">Online scams</a> &#8211; including internet website domain name scams</li>
<li>False billing scams</li>
<li>Identity theft scams</li>
<li>Charity scams.</li>
</ul>
<p>Keep a watchful eye out for anything suspicious, and do your research into any offers you might receive, especially through your email. If you think you&#8217;ve been the victim of a scam, <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/reportascam/">report the scam online</a> to Scamwatch.</p>
<h2>What to do&#8230;</h2>
<ul>
<li>Visit Scamwatch&#8217;s <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/get-help/protect-your-small-business">Protect your small business</a> page for more information on scams targeting small businesses, and learn how to protect yourself from scammers.</li>
<li>Download the ACCC&#8217;s <a href="http://www.accc.gov.au/publications/small-business-scams">Business scams fact sheet</a> for free.</li>
<li>Subscribe to the ACCC&#8217;s <a href="http://www.accc.gov.au/sbin">Small Business Information Network</a> to receive all relevant ACCC small business news to your inbox.</li>
<li>Subscribe to <a href="http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/SCAMwatchRadar">Scamwatch radar alerts</a> to keep up to date with the latest scams.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/reportascam/">Report a scam online</a> to Scamwatch if you feel you have been a victim of a scam or targeted by scammers.</li>
<li>If you aren&#8217;t sure if a business is legitimate, you can check to see if they are registered on <a href="http://www.abr.business.gov.au/">ABN Lookup</a>.</li>
<li>Get the facts about <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/698791">online transactions and banking</a> security from Stay Smart Online.</li>
<li>Read <a href="http://www.accc.gov.au/publications/the-little-black-book-of-scams">The Little Black Book of Scams</a>, published by the ACCC, to learn more about popular scams and tips to avoid them, and visit the ACCC&#8217;s <a href="http://www.accc.gov.au/business/business-rights-protections/avoiding-scams">Avoiding scams</a> webpage.</li>
</ul>
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