Businesses urged to be vigilant and check who they do business with

Consumers aren’t the only ones who have to be careful about who they do business with.

As part of the Multi-Agency Approach to Fraud initiative, we are raising awareness of the issues and the potential huge costs to businesses of falling foul of scammers and fraudulent buyers alongside Trading Standards from Worcestershire County Council and colleagues from West Mercia Police.

Officers say that the prevalence of fraudulent buying practices is currently on the rise, including requesting goods on behalf of fake companies with non-existent addresses, and failure to pay for goods which have been delivered.

This kind of fraud can cost a business thousands of pounds, and according to Trading Standards and Police, these losses could be significantly higher.

ROCUWM continue to work with businesses throughout our region to protect them against fraud through educational workshops. Organised Crime Groups may target businesses in order to obtain large amounts of wealth. Therefore, we aim to warn businesses to remain vigilant and ensure they know who they are trading with as fraudsters use sophisticated techniques to manipulate employees. This includes impersonating employee or company details like email addresses and offering fake documents as ‘proof’ to appear legitimate. These impersonation attempts can be hard to spot, coercing businesses to engage with the fraudster. Fraudsters may also target weak spots within the business like poor cyber security to infiltrate and commit fraud. In some instances, we have seen fraudsters operate internally, using their knowledge of the businesses to successfully commit fraud. We want businesses to stay protected and you can do so by following the professional advice given by West Mercia police and Worcestershire council.

Simon Wilkes, Head of Worcestershire Regulatory Services, said: “We are aware of potentially huge losses to businesses that haven’t taken any precautions to protect their business from criminal trading. We are urging them to protect themselves from fraudulent buyers who don’t turn out to be who they proport to be and sometimes don’t exist at all. Businesses can lower their risks to fraud by implementing robust due diligence, using local business partnerships, and if they are concerned, reporting suspicious activity to West Mercia Police or Action Fraud.”

The measures being advised include verifying customer identities, understanding the nature of their business, and where appropriate, participating in local crime prevention schemes. 

Detective Sergeant Will Horton from West Mercia Police Economic Crime Unit said: "There is professional advice available to businesses to help reduce risks while allowing businesses to trade with confidence. Trading Standards and Police colleagues would urge the business community to protect themselves in this way. We are aware of increasing reports of this type of fraud. We strongly encourage all businesses to make sure you have no doubts when it comes to who you are doing business with. If you have been a victim of such fraud, or suspect a company of being illegitimate, please contact Action Fraud at https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/”

If businesses are concerned about whether they have been scammed, the advice is to report any suspected fraud or criminal activity to the Police or Trading Standards.

For more crime prevention advice around business fraud, visit our West Mercia Police’s Business fraud and how to prevent it.

If you have become a victim of business fraud, report it via Action Fraud’s website. https://www.westmercia.police.uk/ro/report/fo/v2/report-fraud-bribery-corruption/