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Businesses have always been subject to crime and they likely always will be. Whether it is financial crimes like Ponzi schemes, or racketeering, or money laundering, the risk is always there and as a responsible business owner, it is incumbent upon you to try to prevent it whenever you can. Sometimes it is simple things like employees that steal office supplies, or someone parking illegally outside the building. However, it can often be rather more serious such as embezzlement. In that case, you should speak to a forensic accountant to assess the nature of the crime and then contact the relevant local law enforcement agency.
An area in which many businesses are now particularly vulnerable is cyberspace. The threat that is posed by hackers is serious and should not be taken lightly. They are also quite hard to track and even harder to prosecute, especially if they live in a different jurisdiction or country to you. In any case, there are a few things that you can do. For one, when it comes to something like your company emails, which may contain sensitive information, you should add a layer of encryption. This will not make it impossible for a persistent hacker to get your information but it will make it somewhat more inconvenient. With only a minority of businesses using encryption to protect their data, there isn’t a shortage of potential good targets. It stands to reason that a company that is easier to hack will likely be subject to more attacks than one which is more difficult. Preventing cybercrime against your business is quite obviously in your interests but it also has a broader use which is that if it becomes easier and more acceptable to target businesses, it will become more common. By trying to prevent this particular crime, you establish a deterrent of a sort to those considering committing the same crime in the future.
However, it is not just strangers that you need to be concerned about. People who pose as your customers may wish to use you or your business to commit crimes. One of these may be money laundering. This particular crime is sometimes misunderstood because many people’s only knowledge of it comes from its representation in films. The idea is quite simple: criminals will try to disguise the origins of their money (because they are criminal) and establish what is a seemingly legitimate source. They may wish to wash their money through your business. To help prevent this, you should consider checking their credentials. You can ensure an ID is legitimate with ID scanning services from Jumio. It may seem simple but if a person is committing crimes that require them to launder their money, the chances are that they will also stretch to using a fake ID. If this is the case, you can quickly and efficiently find out and deal with the problem.
Lastly, and perhaps most obviously, you should ensure that you and your employees change their passwords regularly and never use any word or phrase that could be guessed. It is simple advice but it effective and could save you a lot of money in the long run.