Being a victim of fraud can be a painful experience. Often times it results in victims become insecure and feel more vunerable. They suffer not only financial but physical strain as well. It's something not easily forgotten and often leaves those who suffer to ask the question "how can I avoid this in the future." In the following lines of this article I will give you some tips to help those who are victims and those who wish to avoid the experience.



It's easy when thinking about fraud to give into fear. News organizations would leave you to believe that the world is out there to get you and that honesty no longer exists in the workplace. This isn't true, but it's naive to ignore the fact that fraud and other related crimes are on the rise. So knowing that it's out there, how do you spot potential fraud.

Information is your strongest weapon. Technology allows people to be so anonymous. With it some can assume any identity they want and often times assume the identity of unsuspecting individuals. So the first thing you should do when working with someone is gather all the information you can about them, but within reason. I say within reason because, if you become to intrusive you'll probably scare away the potential client, customer or investor. The obvious first step to gathering information on a person is to look them up on Google. Do a search on the person and any related businesses, contacts or relationships you may know of. You'd be amazed what's out there. Usually if the person is using his real name you'll glean a whole handful about this person. Next you should check the individuals IP address. IP's aren't the most accurate way to determine ones location, but they will uncover a big lie. Most scammers come from strange foreign countries, such locations should send up fat red flags.

Looking up a phone number can also tell you a lot about who this person really is. If the number is from within the U.S. it shouldn't be to hard to find out where in the states it's coming from. Area codes can be discovered simply by putting the number into Google. If your lucky, and the number is listed, not only will Google tell you where the area code is from, but it will tell you who the number is listed under. If it doesn't come through with a search, try using a reverse lookup with any of the many services out there. This type of search is just a good why of checking for white lies and other indicators that this person might not be who he says it is.

If the individual has a website make sure you check out who the domain is registered to. Most domains have contact information that is readily accessible to the public. Any domain tool will allow you to view their information. One piece of information that shouldn't be overlooked is the Email address. The majority of people involved in fraud will use a free email service like Hotmail, Yahoo or Google. This isn't a perfect way of indicating the intentions of your contact but it's a good start.

Now even after all of that you may still become a victim of fraud, so what's to be done if it's to late to avoid it. Well if your dealing with a credit card company it's fair to say it's a lost cause. Most credit card companies side with their customer and not with the business owner. I wouldn't get to frustrate by this since fraud can go both ways. It's almost a guarantee that during your time as a consumer you will encounter circumstances that call for this bias by the credit card companies. However, this doesn't mean you shouldn't try and fight. If your working with PayPal the results could be more in your favor if you have all your records in order. In the end, the, the best way to resolve fraud is trying to work with the culprit. While this might seem as a lost cause, you'd be surprised at the results it can sometimes generate.

It's important to be aware of the evil that exist out there in the business world. But it's also important not to give into the fear that can sometimes precede that knowledge. Be sure and always do your research, that's the one rule that should be observed religiously.