Caught a Shoplifter? How Civil Demand Letters Let Retailers Recover Merchandise Value Plus Statutory Penalties
Civil demand statutes let retailers bill shoplifters for merchandise plus a $50-$500 penalty, settled by letter if paid within 30 days.
#fraud-prevention
Fraud Prevention
Proactive strategies and controls to prevent financial fraud in your business
Duplicate Invoice Payments: The Hidden Profit Leak Draining Up to 2% of Your Vendor Spend
Duplicate payments siphon 0.8–2% of vendor spend. Sweep your AP history, recover overpayments fast, and lock in five controls.
SIM-Swap Fraud Can Empty Your Business Bank Account in an Afternoon: Port-Out PINs, Authenticator Apps, and the Alerts That Catch a Takeover Early
A SIM swap hands your number to a criminal who resets passwords and wires out your balance — lock the carrier account, quit SMS codes, call back on wires.
Skimming and Lapping, Explained: How Cash Goes Missing Before — and After — It Hits Your Books
Skimming steals cash before it is recorded; lapping hides it by misapplying later payments. A proof of cash and split duties catch both.
Why Your Business Calls Show Up as 'Spam Likely' — and How to Fix Your Caller ID
Spam Likely labels come from Hiya, First Orion and TNS, not your carrier. Register numbers, earn A attestation and add branded calling to lift answer rates.
Benford's Law: The First-Digit Test That Catches Fake Invoices in Your Books
About 30% of real accounting amounts start with the digit 1 — fabricated invoices rarely do. Here's how to run a Benford first-digit test in a spreadsheet.
Counterfeit Bills at the Register: Train Your Cashiers to Catch Fakes Before They Cost You
Counterfeits you accept are your loss — no reimbursement. Train cashiers on feel-look-tilt checks, UV verification, and Secret Service Form 1604 reporting.
Daily Money Manager Bookkeeping: Retainers, Bill-Pay Trust Controls, and the Fiduciary Line
A daily money manager is not a fiduciary until formally appointed — price retainers deliberately, never commingle funds, and log every bill-pay.
AI Deepfakes Now Drive 40% of Business Email Compromise: The AP Controls That Stop a Cloned Voice From Approving a Fake Wire
40% of business email compromise now uses AI deepfakes. Out-of-band callbacks, dual approval, and locked vendor records stop voice-clone wire fraud.
Authorized Push Payment Fraud: The Invoice Scam Your Bank Won't Reverse
Because you authorized the wire, US banks rarely refund APP fraud — $8.3B lost in 2024. Out-of-band vendor verification and dual approval stop it.
Your Refund Never Arrived? How to Trace a Lost, Stolen, or Misdirected IRS Refund With Form 3911
IRS Form 3911 traces a missing refund after 5 days for direct deposit or 4–9 weeks for paper checks; BFS then cancels the original or investigates the forgery.
Mandatory Vacations Catch Fraud: The Two-Week Control That Cuts Your Losses in Half
Organizations with mandatory vacation and job rotation report roughly 50% lower fraud losses — here is how small teams run the control.