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Setting up a website is a great way for brands to reach out to a large target audience. It boosts sales and gives brands data that can be very useful while formulating sales and marketing plans. However, on the flip side, it also puts companies at risk of fraud. Fraudsters target businesses of all sizes. In fact, according to the Global Fraud Report, organizations with less than 100 employees suffer the highest median loss. This can be extremely expensive with the potential to cause global fraud losses valued at up to $4 trillion. As a business grows the potential for losses caused by fraud also increases. Here are 5 tips to protect your brand and your customers from such fraudsters. 1. Develop A Security Culture Within The Organization One of the easiest ways for fraudsters to take over accounts is to pose as customers and contact customer support teams through phone calls or emails. Inculcating a culture of security within your team can help protect them from these fraudsters. Regular training on a monthly, bi-annually or annual schedule can educate employees on the latest tricks being used by fraudsters and teach them the signs that can identify them. To encourage developing and following good security protocols, employees who practice good cyber security should be rewarded and positioned as examples for the rest of the team. Companies also need to implement clear policies on fraudulent practices. 2. Use Multi-Factor Authentication Companies must balance anti-fraud measures with their customer’s convenience. This is where multi-factor authentication comes in. Customers may be asked to authenticate their identities during registration as well as other interactions with the company through an OTP that may be sent to their email or mobile phone. This acts as an additional layer of security if and when a fraudster tries to take over an account. The practice also helps businesses comply with legal security regulations. 3. Institute An In-Depth Pre-Employment Screening Process According to the Global Fraud Report, 42% of the frauds that affected by small businesses were the result of internal fraud. Unfortunately, internal fraud can go undetected for long periods of time and not just cause financial losses but also ruin the company’s corporate culture. Thus, to protect themselves from fraud, businesses need to ensure that they have trustworthy teams. To do this, the company must conduct extensive background checks on every prospective employee. There are many professional services that specialize in such types of pre-employment screening with services including document verification, finding proof of life and bio-metric verification. 4. Hire A Fraud Management Team It is crucial for every business to invest in a fraud management team that specializes in identifying fraud, lowering customer dissatisfaction in case of a fraudulent activity hitting the brand and protect the company’s bottom line. They work in tandem with customer service teams and are the first line of defense against fraud. The qualities to look for in people for this team include attention to detail, good communication skills and an ability to analyze data and identify events that might indicate fraud. 5. Backup All Critical Data Ransomware attacks can not only put a company’s data at risk, but also harms the company’s reputation. The best way to defend data from such ransomware is to take regular backups of all critical data. If the company has a reliable, secure backup, it can limit the impact of the ransomware attack. Local backups may be more convenient but these backups are vulnerable to ransomware. Thus, it is better to use offsite storage solutions. To create ransomware-proof backups, businesses should maintain 3 copies of its files with 1 copy offsite and 2 copies in different types of storage media. This data should be protected by unique logins and passwords. In Conclusion Every business, big and small, is susceptible to fraud. As cyber security evolves and creates new products and services, cyber criminals adapt to the methods and find ways around them. That said, it is never too late to start taking measures to protect your company and customers. It is also important to note that protecting the business from fraud is not a one-time exercise; this must be an ongoing task with regular auditing. For more Information about Data Quality Tools like Address Verification, Email Verification, Identity Verification, Id & Document Verification visit our website www.melissa.com/in/
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