Tick all the boxes and outsmart fraudsters

THE statistics say it all: according to a PwC report, half of UK businesses have fallen victim to fraud in the last two years. To make matters worse, financial losses are increasing, not falling.

It’s clear that businesses of all sizes need to be aware of the dangers of fraud.

After the introduction of GDPR, the fines for data breaches have increased substantially, but there are also reputational costs to consider. So what can SMEs do to give themselves the best chance of being protected in the face of these risks?

When I asked Donal Vaughan, Growth Street’s Head of Credit, about how SMEs can minimise the risks of fraud, he said: “Fraud affects many businesses in the UK each year.

“To make sure you’re in as good a place as possible to prevent fraud, it pays to be vigilant : never assume it’s not going to be you, and dig into as much detail as possible on new suppliers and customers.

“After all, prevention is better than cure: being conscious of the threat posed by fraud could be the difference between a successful year and a bad year for some businesses.”

One particularly valuable piece of advice Donal has is that for all the cyber risks and cutting-edge detection solutions out there, sometimes it’s the human factor that can lead to security risks. Stories of companies being affected by employee fraud, for instance, are all too common.

The tricky part can come down to finding the right balance between ‘boring’ regulatory and security requirements and what so many business owners want to think about – planning the growth of their businesses. But in an age where bad PR can travel around the world in seconds, it’s worth stopping to think about whether you’ve ticked all those essential boxes. Sponsored Column