When working in an industry that has equipment sent out for delivery or collected from a yard there is a prevalence of fraud. There are some red flags during the process that should stay in mind.
Fraud normally comes in three different areas, behavioral, transactional and documentary.
Transactional Red Flags of Fraud:
Email Address: non work email addresses with a mixture of letters (usually a name) and random numbers. Example: [email protected]
Phone Number: numbers that do not ring through and have a generic message “service unavailable” or a pause then a stutter dial tone (short dial tones), may be an indication that the call is being diverted through an internet service.
Delivery Location: delivery to an unused lot with nobody on site. Ensure someone is available anf you can verify who they are. Do not unload without confirmation.
Behavioral Red Flags of Fraud:
Pressure: an unreasonable need to act immediately with no care or regard for price or terms. a fraudster is not planning on paying, pricing is irrelevant.
Unusual Deals: a new customer of new business that out of the blue, with very little sales pressure, places an order for a large amount of equipment, that seems out of place for the project(s) being worked.
Documentary Red Flags of Fraud:
Credit Cards: ensure that the credit card billing address and the business address are aligned (small businesses)
Credit Cards: long expiry dates, over 3-years, usually mean the card is a one-time use / gift card, and not for ongoing business.
