Was Your Business Assets Stolen By Fraudsters?
When it comes to business/commercial fraud, scammers often target companies or commercial entities to steal funds, access sensitive information, or manipulate transactions for their own gain. Here’s a list of five common types of business fraud, along with a brief explanation of each, and how a fraud claim department can assist in recovering stolen funds:
Our Asset Tracing Process
Our multi-step process begins with a free consultation, where we assess the details of your case and determine the viability of asset recovery. From there, we move to asset tracing and legal action if needed. Here’s what our process looks like:
1. Transaction Investigation & Traceability:
We begin by tracing any unauthorized transactions to the fraudster’s accounts. This might involve working with your bank, financial institutions, or payment processors to identify the flow of stolen funds.
2. Chargebacks and Reversals:
In certain cases, we can assist in initiating chargebacks (for credit card fraud) or payment reversals for wire transfers, especially if the transaction is recent and can be flagged as fraudulent.
3. Collaboration with Law Enforcement:
We can report the fraud to appropriate authorities such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and help with any criminal investigations. If necessary, we can facilitate legal action to recover stolen assets
4. Prevention and Security Enhancements:
We don’t just focus on recovery—we also implement preventative measures. This could include enhancing cybersecurity, securing payment systems, or offering employee training on how to recognize and report fraud.
5. Claim Submission and Documentation:
We assist in gathering all necessary documentation to support your fraud claim, such as evidence of fraudulent transactions, communication records, and financial impact reports. We then work to submit a formal claim to insurers, banks, or other parties involved in the recovery process.
Relatable Business Scams
Whether your business is a victim of invoice fraud, BEC, payroll fraud, credit card fraud, or more complex fraud schemes like money laundering, our fraud claim department can provide critical assistance in tracking stolen funds and taking the right legal and financial steps to recover them. Contacting us early in the process can help minimize your losses and prevent further damage.
1. Invoice Fraud (Also Known as “Fake Invoice Fraud” or “B2B Invoice Scam”)
Invoice fraud occurs when fraudsters create and send fake invoices to businesses, often using the names or identities of legitimate suppliers or partners. They might use slight changes in company names or bank details to trick businesses into paying them instead of the real supplier.
How It Happens:
1. Fraudsters typically use phishing or social engineering to gain access to a business’s financial systems or email..
2. They then alter an invoice from a real supplier or create a completely fake one, convincing a business to make a payment.
How Our Fraud Claim Department Can Help:
Investigating the Fraud:
We can help identify the email chain and trace the transaction, working with banks and payment processors to reverse the fraudulent transfer.
Prevention Measures:
We also assist in setting up better email security protocols (e.g., multi-factor authentication) to prevent future BEC attacks.
2. Business Email Compromise (BEC)
Business Email Compromise (BEC) is a type of scam where cybercriminals compromise a business's email system. The fraudster may pose as an executive, employee, or supplier, and instruct employees to make unauthorized financial transfers, usually involving large sums.
How It Happens:
Cybercriminals often send phishing emails to gain access to a business’s email system, then monitor communications for the right opportunity.
2. Once they gain access to the email system, they use it to send fraudulent payment requests or change payment instructions.
How Our Fraud Claim Department Can Help:
Investigating the Fraud:
We can help identify the email chain and trace the transaction, working with banks and payment processors to reverse the fraudulent transfer.
Prevention Measures:
We also assist in setting up better email security protocols (e.g., multi-factor authentication) to prevent future BEC attacks.
3. Payroll Fraud
Payroll fraud occurs when employees or third-party vendors steal money from a business’s payroll system. This can involve falsifying hours worked, inflating salaries, or creating fake employees to siphon off funds.
How It Happens:
An employee or payroll manager may manipulate payroll records, enter false overtime hours, or create ghost employees (fake workers).
The fraud is usually detected when the business notices discrepancies in its payroll system or financial reports.
How Our Fraud Claim Department Can Help:
Audit and Analysis:
We can assist in reviewing payroll records and identifying discrepancies or suspicious activities.
Recovery:
We help in recovering the funds that were improperly paid out by contacting your payroll provider or bank to reverse fraudulent transactions.
Internal Investigation:
We help with internal investigations and support reporting the fraud to law enforcement, ensuring accountability.
4. Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML)
Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML) occurs when businesses are used to facilitate money laundering activities. Fraudsters use the business’s legitimate trade transactions to disguise illegal money transfers by inflating invoices, misrepresenting the value of goods, or using shell companies.
How It Happens:
A Criminal organizations or scammers use fake or inflated invoices to launder illicit funds through the legitimate financial system.
Businesses may be unaware that they are involved in laundering schemes, especially if they are working with suppliers or customers in foreign markets.
How Our Fraud Claim Department Can Help:
Transaction Scrutiny:
Our fraud claim department can investigate suspicious trade transactions and work with your financial institutions to identify unusual patterns or overinflated invoice amounts..
Recovery of Funds:
We help in identifying where illicit funds have been transferred, potentially recovering them through reverse payments or legal channels.
Internal Investigation:
We help with internal investigations and support reporting the fraud to law enforcement, ensuring accountability.
5. Corporate Credit Card Fraud
Corporate credit card fraud occurs when employees or unauthorized individuals use a company’s credit card for personal expenses or fraudulent transactions.
How It Happens:
Employees with access to a company credit card might make personal purchases or inflate legitimate expenses.
Sometimes, external scammers gain access to a business’s credit card information through phishing attacks or data breaches.
How Our Fraud Claim Department Can Help:
Transaction Investigation:
We can assist by reviewing credit card statements and identifying unauthorized charges. Working with the credit card issuer, we can attempt to reverse the fraudulent transactions..
Fraudulent Activity Reporting:
We help in reporting the fraud to your credit card provider and law enforcement, and if necessary, initiate legal action against the perpetrator.
