Projections indicate that cheque fraud will grow by 25% each year. It is estimated that commercial fraud, including cheque fraud, costs North American business in excess of $20 billion CAD annually.
Recent industry studies show that nearly two-thirds of Canada’s top businesses have been hit by fraud. What used to be a crime targeted to large and mid-size companies is now shifting to unsuspecting small businesses.
A Fraud Survey Report of 1000 Canadian Companies Indicated:
• 62% of all companies in Canada have experienced fraud, this was up from 52%.
• Cheque fraud alone is estimated to cost Canadian businesses between $1–2 billion dollars each year.
Source: Nilson report
Fraud is on the rise for small businesses: 66% of small businesses are concerned about fraud. 20% of small businesses have already experienced it.
Most small business customers would order from a company with a fraud protection service. Many small business customers depend on their personal credit rating, making fraud a bigger risk for them.
What Kinds of things do Criminals Look For?
• High volume bank accounts where a fraudulent cheque can easily slip through. • Cheques that are easy to reproduce using a colour copier.
• Cheques that are easy to tamper with.
• Easy access to a cheque book or cheque stock
Be aware that it is impossible to prevent fraud. But you can significantly minimize the risk – reducing the chance of someone counterfeiting or altering your business cheques, as well as reducing your liability when it occurs – using a two step approach. First, it is critical that good procedures related to your cheque processing process are in place. Second, it is essential that your business cheques be difficult to counterfeit or alter.
1. Prompt account reconciliation – reconcile your statements as soon as they are received.
2. Restrict access to your cheques. Split responsibilities so that no one person is responsible for cheque issuance and reconciliation.
3. Audit your business cheques.
4. Ensure that your cheque includes comprehensive security features.
5. Keep business cheque stock in a secure location.
6. Destroy unused business cheques from closed accounts immediately.
7. When re-ordering your business cheques use a continuous set of consecutive numbers.
8. Order only one set of business cheques per account.
9. Report any old outstanding business cheques and suspected fraud on your account immediately.
10. Refrain from making the signature of company officials common knowledge.
11. Use non-window or window envelopes that are specifically designed to be compatible with your business cheque, properly sized with a printed art lining to ensure confidentiality.
12. When conducting a reconciliation review of cancelled business cheques verify that the payees have not been tampered with.
13. Never leave business cheques unattended in your computer printer.
14. When you do a cheque run, account for all business cheques since the last run.
15. Review your insurance policy to determine if it provides protection in the event of a loss.
Bottom line – do not take unnecessary chances. The more security you have through procedures and your choice of business cheques, the less likely that someone will tamper with your cheques.
NEBS is the only company in Canada with Fraudblockerservice which validates that a cheque order is coming from a legitimate, authorized business representative, not someone trying to misrepresent themselves to defraud a business. Fraud Blocker’s goal is to proactively decrease the incidence of cheque fraud and identity theft. This is an industry leading protection service available for the first time in Canada! This cuttingedge service helps protect NEBS customers against fraudulent cheque orders.
From the time you place your order to the moment you receive it, has security safeguards in place to protect your business, including:
• Order Screening
• Phone Number Screening
• Fraud Expert Evaluation
• Tamper-Evident Packaging
• Experienced Cheque Experts
• Bonded Printers
• Restricted Access Facility
• Undeliverable Orders Returned
• Security Features Within Each Cheque Design
No other cheque supplier offers you this much peace of mind. For more information, please visit the NEBS Cheque FraudBlocker page.
