Scammers are getting more sophisticated. Here’s what helps avoid them
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
The Better Business Bureau’s 2025 poll of more than 500 BBB accredited businesses shows that more than 60% of businesses have been targeted by fraudsters. To avoid becoming a scammer’s next victim, it’s vital to understand how scammers work and plan to prevent their thieving.
John Miller, certified anti-money laundering specialist and bank secrecy act officer with Community Financial System, Inc. in Syracuse, said that “one of the biggest threat categories we’re seeing growing in recent times is an undue pressure to act quickly. They’re trying to get business owners to act quickly. It’s a real threat.”
Scammers may claim that a false invoice is overdue, the “deal” is limited time only or that penalties will be levied unless a payment is made immediately. Miller said slowing down the process can help businesspeople detect fraud.
“Criminals want things to happen quickly so it avoids detection and the money is in their hands quicker and they can move it on to a different account if and when fraud is identified,” he explained.
Whether the purported source of the information is the IRS, a vendor or a client, slowing down the interaction can help identify scams. Miller said that fraudsters know their illegal activity won’t go undetected forever. The sooner they can get you to act, the better because they can get their hands on your company’s money and disappear. This may look like an urgent request for:
• Back taxes owed to the government
• Prepayment for work yet to be delivered
• Payment of an illegitimate invoice, membership or subscription (the company requesting doesn’t exist or the scammer is impersonating a real company)
By making their demand look like an emergency, the potential victims tend to panic, respond emotionally and override logic.
“By the time fraud is detected the money is gone,” Miller said.
Fraudsters prefer using wire transfers, sometimes in several small amounts so it won’t trigger suspicion. That also makes it tougher for banks and law enforcement to recover the funds.
Even more odd sounding than wire transfers, gift cards are often the “currency” desired by fraudsters, as victims can send them photos of the cards or the card numbers and PINs rendering the funds lost forever.
“Businesses are still one of the biggest users of checks, so check fraud is a real issue still,” Miller added. “Checks being stolen out of the mail are predominately business checks. They use account information to create counterfeit checks or try to use that information to perform a phishing scam or use the information to get access to the customer’s account.”
Because scammers change their tactics continually, establishing processes internally will help fraud-proof your organization. Miller said that banks and other financial organizations and the Small Business Administration can help you develop procedures tailored to your organization.
“Verification of information is one of the number one defenses,” Miller said. “If you receive something saying you owe someone money or a transaction has happened, reach out through a trusted contact point or a trusted communication channel. That is the No. 1 way to attack that situation.”
Train employees to refer any inquiries regarding money or security to the correct personnel or their back-up. Crosstrain back-up employees so they know what to do. Miller said that fraudsters look for a weak link in the chain. That might be a new receptionist, inexperienced payables clerk or someone filling in while the regular staffer is on vacation. In these situations, it’s easier for a scammer to obtain sensitive information, slip through an illegitimate invoice or convince someone that the company’s go-to vendor has changed their payment information.
“I’ve heard stories of companies paying out a certain percent of invoices even though they were fraudulent,” said Jeffrey Allan, director of the Institute of Responsible Technology at Nazareth University in Rochester. “If you don’t have good controls for accounts payable, you’re not going to be able to handle AI scams coming your way either.”
He has heard of scam calls where a fraudster uses voice cloning to sound like the CEO of the company asking for a transfer of funds. Of course, the request is urgent and the CEO is caught up in a meeting.
“Voice cloning makes this particularly easy for people who have a lot of public speaking where there are many samples of their voice available online,” Allan said. “It’s really easy to do and nearly free to clone voices.”
Allan urges businesspeople to stay alert for odd requests, especially those made to people who typically don’t handle money or sensitive information within the company. That’s why a standard protocol of routing these requests is so important.
“Employees need to learn how to spot scams and speak up,” said Lynn Richer, senior vice president and treasury management sales consultant for M&T Bank. “Thoughtful processes reduce the amount of paper in the mail to reduce fraud. Before paying any money, verify remittance details with a trusted source. You need layered approval system to alert to identify suspicious behavior. That can help identify fraud before costly losses.
“It can’t just be ‘one-and-done’ with a single source. It needs to be top-of-mind. Any layered approval structure helps. It goes a long way. It can uncover a problem early. You need two sets of eyes verifying and extra review.”
