The list of top scams does not only
include scams that can affect individuals; some of these scams are there solely
for targeting online businesses. The growing online industry has not only
attracted legitimate business people, it also opened up various scamming
opportunities to scammers. Today, each time a new industry appears online, you
can expect that its only a matter of time before a relevant scam is developed
to exploit some of its vulnerabilities.
Top scams for online businesses may
be ranked the same way as all other scams. They can be based on the number of
reports or complaints received by authorities or based on the amount of losses
incurred by the companies who have become a victim of the scam. Regardless,
ranking scams committed against online businesses gives businesses a better
sense of direction as to how they are going to prioritize the improvements on
their security system. To give you an idea about the top scams against online
businesses, check out the list below:
Online Business Top Scams
- Online Shopping Scam
Online shopping scam is one of the
top scams committed against online businesses. You have to note that there are
various types of online shopping scam, one of which is credit card fraud. This is
the type of shopping scam that works against the merchants. Since the burden of
responsibility to validate the legitimacy of a credit card purchase lies with
the merchant, the merchant is also the ones who suffer the losses when a credit
card transaction turns out to be phony.
Credit card fraud is committed when
a scammer utilizes stolen credit card information to place a purchase online.
Once the legitimate owner of the card discovers the transaction a dispute or chargeback
is usually filed by the credit card owner in order to recover their losses. Once this claim is proven to be true the
merchant automatically suffers the losses.
- Tax Scams
Tax scam is also one of the top scams used against both individuals and online businesses. This type of scam
used to be seasonal, meaning they are only rampant during the tax season, but
now scammers have found a way to make to make tax scams work even in a regular
season.
Tax scams come in various forms. One of the
most common types of tax scam is communicated via email targeting businesses,
claiming that they have an overdue tax payment that they must settle
immediately or a lawsuit will be filed against the. This type of threatening
letter is enough to cause business owners to panic and follow the instructions
of the scammer without verifying the qualifications of the sender or the
truthfulness of the claim.
- Spear Phishing Scam
Spear phishing scam is a more
sophisticated form of phishing scam. It is utilized by scammers to help
increase the success rate of their dubious scheme. The scam initially targeted
regular individuals, but as it evolves, it is now targeting businesses, causing
an even greater amount of risk.
Spear phishing scams usually assume
the identity of one of the company’s executives. They go to great lengths of
research to find the designation of their target, gathering more personal
information so their scheme will sound more legit and convincing. They use this
information to gain access to the company’s financial information so they can
steal money.
