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Scams to Avoid in Your Business

Guest post by: Barbara Weltman

Article Overview: It's hard enough to run you business, let alone identify when you're being targeted by a scammer.

Scams to Avoid in Your Business

It\'s hard enough to run you business, let alone identify when you\'re being targeted by a scammer.

1. Identity theft



The scam: You\\\'re promised all kinds of things for your business -- loans, equipment, a buyer for your company. All you have to do is provide your company\\\'s financial information, including your bank account. The party contacting you then uses your information to obtain loans, get into your account, or do other financial damage to your company.

Variation: You are contacted by someone who purports to be from the SBA or IRS. The letterhead or email looks genuine, but in fact the contact is made by an identity thief.

What to do: The SBA warns that you should never give your company\\\'s financial information to anyone unless you initiate contact for a specific reason, or you thoroughly check the party out and verify their claims.

2. Loan brokers



The scam: A party claiming to be a loan broker asked for an upfront fee (e.g., $3,000) to help you complete the paperwork for obtaining a business loan. As soon as you pay the fee, the party disappears.

What to do: There are some legitimate loan brokers who may be able to help you secure a loan. In March 2010, the SBA warned small businesses to beware of fraudsters promising to get you an SBA loan.

3. Equipment loans or leases



The scam: You receive a communication (by phone, mail, or email) saying you\\\'ve been pre-approved for an equipment loan or lease. All you have to do is make the first and last month\\\'s payment. However, you never see the equipment.

What to do: Before you do business with anyone, check the Better Business Bureau (BBB) or your state attorney general\\\'s office to learn if there have been any complaints filed.

4. 'Business Opportunities'



The scam: You see ads or are solicited to get in on a great business opportunity that claims you can make great money, such as $150,000 a year, even from home. You pay for training materials and/or equipment; the scam is the exaggeration of the money that can be made.

What to do: If something sounds too good to be true, it is probably a scam. To protect yourself, get an earnings claim in writing. Again, check with your attorney general\\\'s office and your state or county consumer protection agency, as well as BBB, both where the business opportunity promoter is based and where you live, to find out whether there are any records of unresolved complaints.

Resources

Learn about scams and file complaints concerning any you encounter with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or call 877-FTC-HELP. Always check with the FTC and BBB directly, as scammers often make false claims about such affiliations.

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Article Tags: identity theft, scams, small business



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Internet Users Hbk http://www.internetscamsanonymous.com - Current site for sale of our handbook as a Clickbank product Welcome any and all feedback: Sale page Content Handbook Content Pricing Too Big Considering braking it to 2 volumes: Avoiding Scams Online and Doing Business Online and maybe ad 3rd volume related internet technology Kind of like selling preventive medicine!! Thank you in advance for your interest and comments
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Re: On Which Social Media Sites Are You Most Active? - for me some sites are too social and less business, so my focus has been on Apsense and learning my way around here. Both are featured on my blogs most of the others for my groups are shown in alphabetically order for my Internet Scams Anonymous groups
Re: What is your Business? - Helping others learn to recognize and avoid scams online while starting to growing a business online I do that with my Internet Users Handbook and member to member support with my Internet Scams Anonymous (ISA) Groups
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