Caution: Beware of counterfeit checks and overpayment scams

Orlando’s beleaguered KEL law firm has been scammed out of about $285,000 by a  phony client. According to news reports, the firm was contacted via email by someone (obviously a sophisticated scammer) pretending to have lost wages from a fictitious employer. The firm received a settlement check; the “client” requested that the funds be sent to his account in a Japanese bank. The law firm did so before the...

Five Ways to Protect Your Company and Your Customers from Employee Dishonesty

One of the most damaging things that can happen to a company is for an employee to commit a dishonest act, whether it’s stealing from the company or a customer, deliberately lying, or doing something else that isn’t honest. Here are five ways you protect your company from such conduct by employees:   1. Admit that it could happen. You may think you know your people, but how often have you seen news...

Cell phone pictures help protect kids and elderly

This isn’t a business tip, but I thought it was worth sharing. Recently someone wrote a letter to Dear Abby with this suggestion: Because most cell phones these days have a built-in camera, parents should snap a picture of their kids every morning. Make it part of the standard getting-ready-for-school routine.  If something should happen to the child that day (if the child gets lost, is abducted, or is...

Before you dump those old computers, clear off the hard drives

Maybe you’ve upgraded your equipment or downsized your company—whatever the reason, if you’ve got some old computers, don’t sell, trash, or give them away until you’ve erased the data from your hard drives.   “It is fairly easy for someone else to recover files from used hard drives,” said James Wiebe, president/CEO of WiebeTech, a provider of data security and data mobility solutions. “As a...

New e-mail attack claims to be from the Dept of Justice (DOJ)

A new e-mail attack is similar to previous attacks claiming to be from the IRS and Better Business Bureau. The e-mail claims to be from the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) and says a complaint has been filed with the USDOJ against the recipient’s company. It says a copy of the original complaint has been attached to the e-mail, but the file contains malicious code in the form of a Trojan downloader. ...