Everest Business Funding Breaks Down How Businesses Can Dodge Common Holiday Scams

Not everyone wants to join in on holiday festivities with good intentions. Unfortunately, the holiday season is prime time for criminal activity in the scammer world, and businesses that get caught up in a scam can lose money and sleep trying to recover. To help organizations dodge any unnecessary additions to holiday stress, Everest Business Funding breaks down common holiday scams a business could run into and how to avoid being tricked and becoming a victim.

Fake Charities

The holidays that mark the end of another year spark the season for giving. Though people are quick to assume that every donation inquiry is legitimate, that is not the case for greedy scammers. Cybercriminals can take advantage of a business by asking for donations through fraudulent links or websites requiring users to input personal information and a form of payment. Scammers can often appear legitimate by using an existing charity’s logo or similar messaging that can be found on a legal charity’s website.

A company can double-check to ensure they are not being spoofed by utilizing resources such as CharityWatch.org or CharityNavigator.org. The IRS also has a search tool to find tax-exempt organizations that help identify a nonprofit’s charitable status. If a suspicious website is utilizing a notable charity’s logo, a business can always contact a charity directly to donate rather than going through a questionable website.

Package Theft

The age of the pirate has yet to die, especially as porch pirates reign at an all-time high during the holiday season. Catching porch pirates on doorbell cameras has become a viral sensation as individuals and businesses seek to put a cap on the issue. Some people are so fed up with porch pirates they even plant packages on purpose for porch pirates to snag, only to suffer from the wrath of a glitter stink bomb.

When solving the problem of package theft, the most proactive approach to keeping new deliveries safe is having packages dropped in a package drop box secured by a code or key that only a recipient business can access. This helps keep packages safe so that organizations can avoid obsessive package tracking to race to a delivery spot and beat the strike of a porch pirate.

Fraudulent Job Offers

The holiday months are often a busier time for most businesses, and seasonal help is common for these businesses to seek. However, a company can get caught up in a scam when posting seasonal work offers and not even know it due to a lack of awareness and knowledge. Scammers are known to post advertisements for fake jobs in hopes of targeting the individual applying for the job. The online criminal will try and send a prepayment check or check to cover additional travel or work expenses for a job. This process leads job applicants to share personal information and allows a scammer to steal someone’s money from their bank account.

Therefore, if a business posts a job offer for seasonal work, keeping an eye out for fraudulent job offers that replicate a company’s job post can help spread awareness of this type of scam.

About Everest Business Funding

Everest Business Funding provides alternative finance options and revenue based funding to small business owners. They serve a diverse pool of businesses, from healthcare to retail, to help them obtain working capital to grow, buy inventory, launch marketing campaigns, or hire staff. Everest Business Funding’s clients are treated with respect and receive high-quality guidance and service from its professionals.