Fraud is on the rise and scammers are increasingly becoming more clever at their attempts to steal your identity and, ultimately, your funds. These thieves gain access to a business’ finances to make unauthorized transactions, including transferring funds from the company, creating and adding new fake employees to payroll, and stealing sensitive customer information that may not be recoverable. That’s why we recommend following these tips to keep your business safe.

• Verify change requests to ACH transactions directly with the business receiving your payment.  If you receive an email notification that your recurring ACH transaction needs to be rerouted to another account, be sure to confirm the changes directly with the business. This protects you from fraud in the event the business’ email account gets compromised.
• Partner with your bank to prevent unauthorized transactions. Talk to your banker about programs that safeguard you from unauthorized transactions, including ACH and checks. Positive Pay and other services offer call backs, device authentication, multi-person approval processes, and batch limits to help protect you from fraud.
• Be on the lookout for suspicious activity and react quickly. Look out for unexplained account or network activity, pop ups, and suspicious emails. If detected, immediately contact your financial institution, stop all online activity and remove any systems that may have been compromised. Keep records of what happened.
• Protect your online environment. It is important to protect your cyber environment just as you would your cash and physical location. Do not use unprotected internet connections. Encrypt sensitive data and keep updated virus protections on your computer. Use complex passwords and change them periodically.
• Educate your employees. You and your employees are the first line of defense against corporate account takeover. A strong security program paired with employee education about the warning signs, safe practices, and responses to a suspected takeover are essential to protecting your company and customers.
• Understand your responsibilities and liabilities. The account agreement with your bank will detail what commercially reasonable security measures are required in your business. It is critical that you understand and implement the security safeguards in the agreement. If you don’t, you could be liable for losses resulting from a takeover. Talk to your banker if you have any questions about your responsibilities.