Introduction
Businesses and individuals are continuously affected by occupational fraud. Fraud in organizations ranges from misuse of assets, fraudulent financial reporting, and many more. Fraud criminals do use a broad array of tactics to lure and influence their targets. You get to encounter some of these tactics every day just that you can’t identify them. We have legitimate businesses, stores, and even advertisers that use them to influence prospect victims. For you and your business to survive, you must get to recognize the sophisticated tactics used by fraudsters. Fraudsters come in different forms, but there are certain shared traits. Here are some of the behavioral red flags to look out for.

1.Requests for Money

Most fraudsters tend to ask you to pay money in advance. They will refer this to be administration or tax fee before you receive your prize or product. They will take advantage of situations such as foreclosures. The person will request you to pay an advance fee, for instance, to modify a loan.

2.Shady Sellers and Buyers

It is often witnessed with online purchases. Look out for the following issues;

a) A seller is asking you to transfer funds or make payments through money order.
b) A buyer is paying an extra amount with a cheque so that you can refund the change.
In many cases, the cheque usually bounces.
b) A seller is refusing to meet in person or talk through the phone.
3.Aggression and Outright Rudeness

Most fraudsters tend to be rude and aggressive. They will always demand payments, to the extent of issuing threats if you fail to comply with their requests. The point is that they want to push the transaction to move fast before you realize anything fishy from making frequent calls to late hours when managers are not around.

4.Knowledge of your business/operations

Fraudsters often do their due diligence. They will know much about your business, which makes it easy for them to convince you. It is easy to get information like contacts, names, and tax numbers in the digital era, among others. They research intensively on your products or services they intend to call in. Fraudsters are brilliant; they will be empathetic to any recent fraud case you have had. In your mind, you will think they care, and you rule out any suspicion.

Signs Of Fraud

Look out for these among the many red flags of fraud.

1.Guarantees

All business ventures do come with a certain degree of risk. You should, therefore, be wary of individuals that guarantee you a full return on your investment. The old saying goes ‘when the deal is too good, think twice.

2.Unregistered Products

When dealing with a retail store or individual supplier, look out for unlicensed products. Most scams that have been witnessed involve individuals unauthorized and selling unregistered securities list ranges from stocks, bonds, and prime bank investments, among other deals. If you are to be successful in a business, you need to be legit, and so are your products. Compliance should not be compromised at all costs.

3.Overly Consistent Returns

Any business person, both small and big, can identify that investments have low and high moments.  If your investment is consistently increasing every month, or that you receive steady income despite the harsh market conditions, you should be on the lookout.   Get to know that thriving business ventures experience hiccups at some point in their cycle.

4.Undefined Strategies

Any legitimate professional should take you through the prospective investment for you to understand. It means that you should avoid anyone that tries to lure you into a sophisticated investing technique. Fraudsters tend to credit such methods with a promise of high returns. Ensure that you get to understand the investment you have in mind before acting on it; what are the risks involves, and how will your money grow?

5.Discrepancies in Accounting

There are some genuine errors that you can have in your account statements; talk of omission errors, data entry, transposition, and even commission. However, some errors will indicate fraud, like missing funds and unauthorized trades, among others. You must get an independent individual to be a custodian of your assets. You set the way for fraud once you have a single individual keeping your accounts.

6.Missing Documentation

If you are trying to purchase something, you must lookout for the documentation. Take a case of securities; if it lacks prospectus and offering circulars, you could be purchasing unregistered products.

7.Wire Transfer Email Scams

Many fraudsters use email schemes to solicit funds from financial institutions and their clients.  They deceive them into making wire transfers that seem legitimate. In many cases, real estate investors do fall victims of fraudulent wire transfers. You must confirm the wire instructions with your intended recipient. Also, take precautions when dealing with unknown third parties.

Conclusion

Fraud is rampant, and therefore everyone’s responsibility to prevent it. If you fall victim of fraud, take the necessary action not only for you but for your consumers as well.