Fraud
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Fraudulent Enquiries
Enquiries from fraudsters are commonplace for any business that advertises online, including Flashbay.
In fact about 1 in 40 enquiries we receive as a business are fraud, which is fairly normal.
How to recognise fraudsters
- customer writes with poor languages skills
- customer writes with bad grammar
- customer writes in CAPITALS
- customer has a free email (freemail) address (e.g. shell.oil.company@yahoo.com, guchi.handbags@libero.it etc)
- customer wants to order urgently
- customer keen to pay by credit card, and mentions this payment method early in communication. Customer may also insist on 100% credit terms
- customer doesn't negotiate on price
- customer wants 'blank' units, and not is keen on supplying a logo
- customer wants delivery to Africa, or Russia, or somewhere obscure. There are also plenty of fraudsters in developed countries e.g. Southern Italy
- customer wants delivery to forwarding address or 'PO box' (post box)
- customer has no webpage, or it is under construction, or the webpage is very low quality
Fraud Prevention Procedure
BE VIGILANT AT ALL TIMES
a) Key pointers to ask FREEMAIL customers upon first calls.
Remember: very few companies these days operate using a FREEMAIL account.
1. Ask for their Company Name even if it’s given in the enquiry form
2. Ask for a business email address
3. Ask for their delivery address. Delivery can only be made to a proper business address – if a residential address is supplied we cannot deliver
4. If they fail to supply company name, business email and/or a business delivery address - ask for their business registration number – if no number is given then discontinue the negotiation politely by saying that we are a B2B only supplier
5. If all the above checks out then Inform them that we prefer bank transfer for payment – we do not accept credit card payments on first orders from freemail accounts
6. If you think anything about the enquiry, the phone call or the subsequent email trail is suspicious or just doesn’t ‘feel right’ please report it to your group leader immediately and ask for advice on how to proceed
7. If you have doubts about the integrity of a lead, after the first call, re-assess and re-verify the lead with your group leader
Throughout all phone calls be aware of the way the person speaks and what they are actually saying. If they sound unprofessional start asking direct questions about their business. Listen out for any strange noises in the background that you wouldn’t associate with a professional business/office premises. Even ask: “What is that noise?” But at all times be professional and polite.
b) When working with the customer via email please check for the following:
1. Does the lead want to complete the order with minimal negotiation, i.e. was the order too easy?
2. Professional communication, does the lead address you properly?
3. Does the lead show no real enthusiasm for the details of the order?
4. Do they use poor spelling or grammar with lots of capital letters?
5. Do they overly stress the importance of the deadline?
6. Do they insist on paying by credit card?
7. Do they hesitate or stumble when giving credit card number? Do they change the card number at any time during the negotiation?
8. In emails – check the style of their responses – are they detailed and professional or are they unintelligible, unclear and badly written with no normal cordiality? eg Dear…. and Yours sincerely/kind regards… etc.
An important point to note, if it is a FREEMAIL lead enquiry always check with your Group Leader who can advise whether it may be a fraudulent enquiry and how best to deal with it. If you have any doubts whatsoever about any lead, any email or any phone conversation with a customer please discuss it with your Group Leader or Sales Manager immediately.
USE YOUR COMMON SENSE – A FRAUDULENT DEAL IS NOT WORTH CLOSING
