Do you really know who you are talking to on the phone or contacting via email or Social Media? The television series Catfish, starring Nev Schulman and Max Joseph brought to the public’s attention how easy it was to believe you were communicating with someone you could trust and potentially fall in love with BUT it was all fake, a scam, sometimes to try and get money from the innocent person or sometimes just to see if they could convince them they were someone they were not!
Unfortunately, scammers and fraudsters have, over the last few years, been targeting the business world using these types of devious tactics, creating fake profiles, names, photographs and documentation to convince companies that they are a legitimate concern. Once they have built up a rapport with the innocent business and started working with them, they use their bank accounts to launder dirty money they have collected illegally. To prevent this from happening any smart, forward thinking business owner will use a professional company to dig deep into any potential new client so that they really Know Their Customer or as it’s known in the business world KYC.
These companies can do a thorough credit check on a customer for you, research their management team, their business premises and make sure they are a legitimate concern. Don’t just accept that an email that looks like an amazing business opportunity is real, do your homework and make sure you really DO Know your Customer!