Many businesses take online payment options in 2024. An example of this is allowing people to pay with services like Venmo. It often makes it easier for small businesses if the owner just accepts Venmo payments because people can make these transfers with their phone. Cash doesn’t have to exchange hands, even if the business is operating at a farmer’s market or in another location where cash transfers are most common.
While accepting these online transfers does help in many ways and can create more sales for your business, you do need to be aware of the potential for fraud. Some common scams could victimize your business.
Mistaken payments
Just one example of this is when someone sends you a payment and then claims it was a mistake. Maybe $100 shows up, and you’re not sure what the payment is for. The person then contacts you and says that they just sent it to the wrong recipient. They ask you to send them the money back so that they can rectify their mistake.
But in some cases, this is a scam because they are just going to dispute the original transfer. In other words, your business never actually gets the $100 payment that you were notified about originally. All you do is send $100 to the scammer, who then blocks your account and disappears.
This is just one example of some of the pitfalls of electronic payments, which essentially open up the possibility for a modern form of wire fraud. If your business is facing a dispute or if you’ve been victimized by some type of financial fraud, make sure you are aware of your legal options.
