Financial Future: Avoiding Financial Fraud

Avoiding Financial Fraud 

Financial fraud can be broadly defined as an intentional act of deception involving financial transactions for purpose of personal gain. It is a crime, and is also a civil law violation.Financial fraud can not only affect teenagers and adults,but also elderly people. It is really important to be aware and be smart when it comes to scammers and theft. 

Main Types of Frauds We Should Be Aware Of : 

1. Cheque fraud — A bounced check is slang word for a check that cannot be processed because the writer has insufficient funds. In either case, the away to avoid this type of fraud is to insist on bank cheques or avoid cheques altogether, which can be hard. If customers insist on payment by cheque, wait for their cheque to clear before providing goods or services.
2. Banking/identity fraud — This is when someone acquiring your banking details and then using them to steal from your account. It may occur when someone steals personal information, opens credit card accounts in the victim's name without their permission, and charges merchandise to those accounts. Most electronic business banking systems require multiple security steps for transactions, including security tokens, cross-authorisation etc. Be sure to take advantage of these security measures.If you get emails asking for your account details, look carefully for suspicious things, and little details that can show it is fake.  
3. Direct theft — Employees may pocket payments by failing to process the sale or deleting invoices. Keeping this type of fraud in check requires caution. Make sure everyone working in the business knows that stocks and payments are checked regularly.
4. Invoices and payments fraud — These types of fraud rely on your business having less-than-perfect accounting practices that see automatic payments made for incoming invoices for something you haven’t ordered or received. Or payments are made to non-existent employees, or excess amounts paid to actual employees. To avoid this type of fraud, make sure any invoices you receive are checked against the goods or services ordered and that more than one person is involved in the processing of payments.
5. Credit Card frauds - Credit card fraud can happen several ways. Your card could be lost or stolen and used to purchase goods and services. A criminal could obtain your card number and expiry date and use this information to buy merchandise by phone or over the Internet. Or criminals could influence retailers with payment terminals to get a hold your card information and create a counterfeit/forged credit card.
6. Mortgage Fraud - Mortgage fraud is a crime in which the intent is to materially misrepresent or omit information on a mortgage loan application to get a loan or to obtain a larger loan than would have not been obtained if the lender or borrower knew the truth.

Scammers will do anything to get money from their victims. They will act like they need help with something like a charity and misuse the money you give them. Or they will try to sell you something and say it is for our benefit and is good for investment. Teens need to be really careful when it comes to buying goods from cheaper websites. Unless you know that the company offering you the investment or item is legitimate, do not give in, or listen to them. 

How To Prevent Fraud + Tips:

• Spot imposters. Scammers can try to pretend to be someone you trust, like a government official, a family member, a charity, or a company you do business with.
• Do online searches. Google a company or product name with words like “review,” “complaint” or “scam.” 
• Don’t believe your caller ID. Technology makes it easy for imposters to fake caller ID information, so the name and number you see aren’t always real. 
• Don’t pay upfront for a promise. Someone might ask you to pay in advance for things like debt relief, credit and loan offers, mortgage assistance, or a job. They might say you’ve won a prize, but first you have to pay fees. Be careful, because they will probably take the money and disappear. 
• Consider how you pay. Credit cards have significant fraud protection built in, but some payment methods don’t. Electronically transferring money through services like Western Union or MoneyGram is risky because it’s nearly impossible to get your money back. Government offices and honest companies won’t require you to use these payment methods.
• Don’t deposit a check and wire money back. By law, banks must make funds from deposited checks available within days, but uncovering a fake check can take weeks. If a check you deposit turns out to be a fake, you will be responsible and in trouble. 
• Technology has improved and this is the time to use it to prevent financial fraud. One way is by using The Signal Vault.The Signal Vault is a simple solution for protecting your identity from these high-tech thieves. Simply carry this card in your wallet and money clip and all cards within range of its E-Field will be protected.   

Students have to be more aware of how they handle their credit cards, debit cards, and their money. We usually spend money more on technology, food,entertainment, and clothing. We might be protected from investment or mortgage frauds right now, but can be affected by credit card frauds,identity frauds or fake emails and calls. When we get older, we have to pay more attention to scammers trying to get money from us while selling us bad investments. We also have to pay attention to mortgage fraud and frauds involved in businesses because some might own a businesses, or simply want to sell a property. 

http://www.mybusiness.com.au/news/239-four-types-of-financial-fraud-and-how-to-stop-them
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0060-10-ways-avoid-fraud
http://www.topicboss.com/topic/signal-vault/
http://www.bnm.gov.my/microsites/fraudalert/01_what.htm