PPB April 2019

Exploiting The Supplier/Distributor Relationship While scammers have started making significant adjustments to their emails, there’s also an even bigger concern. Scammers have learned about our industry’s supplier/distributor relationship and are looking to exploit that by spoofing email addresses to make them look like they are coming from suppliers. A recent round of emails also included attachments they claimare proofs or invoices. The attachments are PDF or Word files and when you open them, amessage says the document was created in a newer software version and you need to click a button to enable the content. If you click that button, it will load a virus or ransomware onto your system. Now more than ever, the entire industry must remain on high alert as this threat isn’t going away anytime soon. And the more they learn about how this industry works, the craftier scammers will become with their approaches. There many different types of email scams affecting the industry, so it is hard to cover all the specifics, but here are the key ones to watch out for on the most common scam: the email quote request. If you get an email that is unanticipated and looks a little suspect, look for these red flags: • Email is from an unknown person or company that isn’t local to you. • Email address doesn’t match up with the contact’s name or company. • Email is addressed to multiple recipients or says, “undisclosed recipients.” • Subject line is vague. • Body of email contains poor English and/or a fair number of misspellings. • Remember, the signature of an email doesn’t verify anything . Scammers can put any signature and contact information there. What Happens If You Respond To A Scam • The scammers will pounce. If you open the window, you can count on hearing from them quickly. • They may call you. When I decided to test them out and responded to an email that looked like a scam, they called me within minutes and were very assertive in getting the process going. • They will pay up front by trying to get you to accept a wire transfer. If that doesn’t work, they will offer a credit card. Don’t take the bait. What To Do If You Fall Victim The solution depends on where you are in the process, but the first step is to hit the brakes. Immediately stop communicating with the scammers. If the order you accepted is in production, call the supplier and put it on hold so you can sort through the issue. If you’ve processed payment already, call your bank and ask to be connected to their fraud department. Let them know that you think you have fallen victim to a scam and be prepared to provide all the details to them. Make sure you keep good records and have copies of everything you provide to the bank. Hopefully you come out OK, but in case you suffer a financial loss, you want to have everything well documented. If the bank isn’t doing this already, you will need to file a police report. If nothing else, this report will help prove that you were in fact scammed and suffered a financial loss. Advice For Suppliers There are a lot of suppliers whose employees send legitimate emails that look very sketchy because they don’t provide important details. Here are ways to improve this immediately. • Enforce email etiquette. All company employees who are communicating with distributors need to have a full signature with their name, title and phone number. Don’t show direct phone numbers. Give the company’s main number along with their extension. The reason is that scammers can spoof phone numbers from your area code Stay Current On Email Scams • Go to my blog at www.bigdogbrandingblog.com and click on “Scammers Vs Our Industry.” There are several videos showing examples of scam emails I’ve received. • Click the “follow” button in the lower right corner of the site to be updated when new content is added. • If you receive an email that you think could be a scam attempt, forward it to me at chris@bigdogbranding.com and I will look it over and reply with my thoughts. Nowmore than ever, the entire industry must remain on high alert as this threat isn’t going away anytime soon. And the more they learn about how this industry works, the craftier scammers will become with their approaches. | APRIL 2019 | 63 THINK