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Fraud—a big challenge for small businesses.

Protect your assets

Fraud criminals target more small businesses every year, and the costs of an attack are going up. Understand the risks of fraud and build defenses to protect your business.

Fraud has become more common, and its costs are rising.

1/3 experienced fraud in the past two years. 67% increase in the last year. $55,000+ in losses from an attack.

This is what fraud looks like for small businesses.

97% increase in cyberfraud in the past year. 47% reported fraudulent credit card transactions. 75% of fraud events are initiated internally. 76% were the target of spoofing or spear phishing attacks. 66% involved checks. $1.8B in business email compromise losses.

Boost your defenses. Protect your business.

Get ahead of fraud—here’s how:

Step 1

Limit internal threats.

Most employee fraud results from weak internal controls.4 Consider introducing a code of conduct or management review of accounts or transactions. They can reduce the dollar amount and duration of the fraud by 50%.4

Step 2

Set up internet security basics.

  • Keep firewalls turned on.
  • Perform system and software updates as soon as they’re available.
  • Set up multi-factor authentication wherever possible.
  • Encrypt email communications and Wi-Fi traffic.

Step 3

Put your team on alert for fraud.

  • Teach employees how to keep data safe and recognize and report phishing.
  • Establish clear cybersecurity rules and enforce them consistently.
  • Trust your team’s instincts and take all fraud attempts seriously.

Step 4

Keep financial accounts secure.

  • Use direct deposit for payroll and electronic payments for bills.
  • Pay by credit card to take advantage of built-in fraud detection.
  • Use secure online payments.

Looking for more help with your fraud defenses?

Talk to your Truist branch leader about how to keep up with the latest fraud threats and find ways to defeat them.

Related resources

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    Disclosure 1  1 Truist conducted research with 527 small business owners ranging from $100,000 to $2,000,000 in annual revenue in the first quarter of 2021.

    Disclosure 2 2021 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey, Association of Financial Professionals, 2021.

    Disclosure 3 FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center IC3, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2020.

    Disclosure 4 “Top 4 Internal Controls That Reduce Fraud Losses”, Association of Certified Financial Examiners, 2020, accessed 9/8/2021.

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