Did you know, that no industry, even the promotional one, can be an exception to having its own scams and scammers?
Even if you didn't, here are some essential tips so that you don't become a mark...
There are a few common scams in the promotional products industry. One of the most typical ones i basically about making fraudulent orders that are all paid for with a stolen credit card. The payment will appear to be valid and the distributor will have no reason to decline the transaction. But its when the actual credit card owner sees the payment and initiates a charge-back, the distributor ends up having to give away both the product and the payment for it.
Another type of scam involves identify theft of the distributor or supplier. In some states, scammers are known to hack and alter the company's contact info in order to use it paying for their miscellaneous activities.
How To Identify Scams
Use these tips from Brian Pritchard, director of IT at SAGE, as best practices for every order. The more patterns are met along the way, the more it justifies a further examination of the given situation.
- Look for poor spelling or grammar.
- Notice whether they ask for personal details in an email.
- Don’t open attachments or click links if it’s from someone you don’t know or if you are not expecting it.
- Do not reply to spam.
- Practice good security measures and set up multiple strong passwords (which are to include both the alphanumerals and the special characers like "&#%@&")...
Here are some of the red flags to be warned by as well:
- When accepting an order be sure to check the company’s website to ensure that the address and phone number match billing details provided.
- Scammers almost always pay by credit card. Checking is the card safe to accept will be so much easier using this platform - Dun & Bradstreet.
- Be sure the company is legitimate by checking it out on Google and then calling to check.
- Generic domain email addresses such as @hotmail.com are dead giveaways. Otherwise, almost all companies require their employees to use the corporate email for any commercial correspondence.
- Be sure, that it's not the first time you're dealing with the company/supplier, meaning - contact the person whom you've initially contacted with, just to double-check.
But what can you do if you've already fallen for scam?
If you do fall victim to a scammer, there are a few quick basic steps you should take.
If you do fall victim to a scammer, there are a few quick basic steps you should take.
After alerting your bank, credit card company, credit reporting agencies and any other necessary service providers, report the scam to the FTC at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov and report identity theft at www.consumer.ftc.gov/identity-theft.
Next, notify the PPAI at PPB@ppai.org. Sharing your experience will help reduce scams for all members.
You can also stay up-to-date on the latest scams at www.usa.gov/scams-and-frauds and www.consumer.ftc.gov/scam-alerts.
But finally, ans most crucially - be sure to share all these tips with your employees, however big there are in order to actually prevent the scam and be one step ahead of the baddies.
Source: http://pubs.ppai.org/2016/11/youve-been-scammed/
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