Director of Provincial Affairs for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business Kathleen Cook says businesses - not just individuals - can fall prey to fraud.

She shares some of the types of fraud with which businesses contend…….

“There’s a few. One of those is business grant and loans scams and that’s a type of fraud that’s sort of on the rise since the start of the pandemic. There’s credit card fraud that most people are familiar with. There are many other types of scams that targets businesses specifically. For example, false invoicing, office supply scams, directory fraud and then, of course, there is internal workplace fraud as well.”

Cook says that on average fraud costs small businesses 62-hundred dollars a year.

She notes some business owners don’t report fraud because it’s time consuming and victims often feel unsure of what law enforcement can do to help.

 She adds by reporting fraud authorities have the information they need to increase the odds of catching the criminal.   It also helps them to detect trends and prevent other businesses from falling victim to scammers.