Crime Prevention Week - Small Businesses need to protect against Invoice Scam

The Cornwall Community Police Service would like to make businesses in the City aware of an alleged fraud scam that targets businesses with false invoices. Typically small to medium size businesses are contacted by telephone and the person on the other end will already have a certain amount of information about the victim company.

PHOTO CREDIT - Robert Lefebvre - IceLevel.com

Cornwall - Nov. 8, 2011 - The Cornwall Community Police Service would like to make businesses in the City aware of an alleged fraud scam that targets businesses with false invoices.

Typically small to medium size businesses are contacted by telephone and the person on the other end will already have a certain amount of information about the victim company. Often this information is available to anyone on the internet. They will advise the person they are speaking to that they are going to be sending an invoice for services rendered, for instance an ad or for adding their business to a list on their respective website.

Another scenario is that you will not even receive a telephone call, an invoice will just simply be sent to your business for the service they “provided”.

The business then receives an invoice. The invoice amount is small enough that regular accounting wouldn’t question it. The amount would be paid and the scam would be successful.

The Cornwall Community Police Service would like to remind businesses that they can lessen their chances of becoming a victim of invoicing fraud by following some simple guidelines and practicing due diligence.