Protecting Your Business from Cyber Fraud

How criminals hijack your business identity and how to stop them

Your Name Is the Prize

Your business name isn’t merely a brand: it’s your reputation, creditworthiness, and trust with clients, vendors, and financial institutions. When criminals use your name, they aren’t just stealing. They’re attacking the foundation of your enterprise.

Today’s fraud landscape demands more than reactive measures. Two defenses deserve a prominent place in your strategy:

Cyber Monitoring - to detect when your company credentials, EIN, or other identifiers appear on illicit marketplaces.

Response Readiness - having Business Fraud Resolution specialists and Cyber Crime experts standing by to act and contain damage immediately.

With those in place, what once looked like a serious threat to the survival of your business becomes a manageable incident.

How Business Identity Fraud Works

Unlike a smash-and-grab theft, business identity fraud often evolves quietly in the shadows.

Data Exposure & Credential Leak: Through phishing, data breaches, or insider actions, business email accounts, tax IDs, or financial logins may be compromised.

Dark Web Circulation: Compromised credentials are traded or auctioned on underground forums, sometimes for as little as $10–$50 per account.

Impersonation & Execution: Fraudsters pose as your company to banks, vendors, or customers by submitting invoices, opening accounts, or redirecting payments.

Delayed Discovery: Many fraud schemes remain hidden until months later, by which time substantial loss may have already occurred.

Once fraudsters believe they’ve gotten away with something, they may repeat or scale their scheme.

Common Fraud Schemes Targeting Businesses

Business-related fraud typically begins with some kind of technology intrusion. Here are some examples of how business identity fraud can often unfold:

Business Email Compromise: A Fraudster gains access to a company executive’s email account, impersonates the executive and sends wiring instructions to an employee who dutifully carries out the instruction, bypassing all security measures at the bank level.

Loan or Credit Line Fraud: Fraudsters insert malware into the business’ systems to gain access to a company’s EIN, incorporation documents and financial statements, securing credit in your business’ name. The proceeds are routed to a fraudulent account established in the business’ name, which is then emptied

Payroll Diversion: Fraudsters insert fake employees into your payroll system or reroute payroll payments. Companies with frequent turnover and crews dispersed throughout a wide area are particularly vulnerable to this scam.

Check Fraud: Fraudsters forge or manipulate the checks drawn on the business’ bank. The checks are then made out to phony vendors or as refund checks to fake customers. In 2023, 31% of small business owners reported being victims of check fraud, and 65% of those said losses exceeded $50,000. ASBN Small Business Network

Vendor or Procurement Fraud: Fraudsters gain access to procurement systems and can create invoices payable to phony vendors. Another variation is forging purchase orders for expensive equipment with real vendors, making the payment with the business’ existing line of credit.. Fraudsters then sell the equipment to turn the transaction into cash.

Ransomware: Criminals lock up access to business systems and data and demand monetary payment or the data will be corrupted or deleted forever.

These attacks can run in parallel, combining technical and operational fraud elements.

The Escalating Scale of Fraud

Fraud committed against small businesses has risen sharply during recent years, supported by multiple data sources:

• Experian reports that financial fraud against small businesses has increased 70% in the last five years. Experian

• In lending, LexisNexis Risk Solutions found that SMB lending fraud rose 13.6% year-over-year in 2023, with 64% of respondents expecting further increases. LexisNexis Risk Solutions

• A PNC Bank report notes that 29% of small businesses report attempts to scam their accounts payable departments with fake vendor payments. PNC Bank

• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently reported that in 2024 consumers lost over $12.5 billion to fraud, and that the share of fraudulent reports involving real losses increased from 27% in 2023 to 38% in 2024. Federal Trade Commission Federal Trade Commission

• Meanwhile, estimates suggest that 60% of fraud losses by small businesses go unrecovered. FAU Business

These numbers reflect a systemic escalation in business-targeted fraud.

Why Small Businesses Are Especially Exposed

Large firms typically have fraud departments, legal budgets, and internal audit functions. For most small businesses, resources are tight, and this can magnify vulnerability. The consequences of fraud are significant for small businesses and may include:

Unreimbursed Losses: Many banks and insurers decline reimbursement when fraud occurs under lax controls.

Reputation Damage: Trust is hard to rebuild once your business name is linked to fraudulent schemes.

Legal & Compliance Risk: If sensitive customer or vendor data is misused, regulatory exposure may follow.

Operational Disruption: Leaders must shift focus from growth to crisis management.

Existential Threat: Some studies assert that a serious fraud incident can drive more than 60% of small firms out of business within months (or faster) if unchecked. SBIR+1 

Because fraud in a small business’ name often goes months undetected, victims underestimate how deeply they’ve been compromised.

Cyber Monitoring: Your First Line of Detection

Cyber Monitoring is a strategic necessity in modern defense. It can help your business:

• Detect when email accounts, domain, credit or bank accounts, your employer identification number (EIN) and other credentials tied to your business are traded or listed in the underground internet of the dark web.

• Receive alerts before fraudsters act, giving you a potential head start on remediation of fraud or compromise.

• Correlate exposures with internal systems to find weak spots.

• Prioritize risk responses based on actionable intelligence.

In short: it’s not a magic shield, but it’s one of the few tools that can provide your business with insight into an attackers’ game plan before they strike.

The Power of Response Readiness: Specialists on Call

Even robust monitoring and prevention aren’t foolproof. When fraud happens, time is critical. You need trained professionals standing by and ready to act fast.

Business Fraud Resolution Specialists can:

• Open investigations with banks, file disputes to reclaim assets, and stop fraudulent flows.

• Serve as liaison for your business with credit bureaus, vendors, and regulatory bodies.

• Manage the logistical and legal complexity of reversal and remediation.

Cyber Threat Specialists complement that by:

• Determining the severity and scope of the situation

• Determining what actions to take and how quickly

• Conducting scans of your devices

• Helping you to secure systems, shut down backdoors, and prevent re-entry.

• Conducting root-cause analysis to block repeat attacks.

Together, these teams can reduce damage, accelerate recovery, and restore confidence.

Bringing It All Together

Protecting your small business isn’t about fighting one threat at a time. It’s about being ready for the full spectrum of risks, from fraud to cybercrime to legal challenges. Here’s how the right mix of services builds your safety net:

Fraud Resolution Specialists act immediately to shut down fraudulent accounts, recover funds, and guide you through fraud remediation, whether the target is the business or its owners.

Cyber (Dark Web) Monitoring alerts you if your business’ domain, brands, IP addresses, EIN, account numbers or other business credentials are being sold in underground markets.

Cyber Threat Resolution helps contain attacks, restore data, and minimize downtime when malware or ransomware strikes by providing expert Cyber Specialists on call.

Business Credit Monitoring can detect fraudulent accounts opened in your business’ name before they spiral into major losses.

Employee Fraud Hotline gives your staff a safe way to report suspicious or fraudulent activity anonymously, identifying gaps in security, or a need for stronger policy enforcement.

Data Breach Response Teams guide you through customer notifications, PR management, and vendor coordination if sensitive data is exposed.

Legal Plan Support provides free and discounted access to attorneys for contract reviews, compliance, writing collection letters and to address fraud-related incidents.

Breach Identity Protection Coverage can safeguard thousands of affected individuals, protecting your reputation along with your bottom line.

Each service adds a layer of defense. Alone, they’re helpful; together, they create a comprehensive shield around your business identity, your systems, your employees, and your customers.

Bottom line: You don’t have to face fraud, ransomware, or impersonation alone. With proactive monitoring, expert response teams, and integrated protections, your business has the partners it needs to respond, recover, and keep moving forward with confidence.