Trust me…it happens to everybody sooner or later. I’m talking about fraud. If you think I’m kidding, pick up a newspaper and take a look at some of the biggest banks in the world that have been hit by this crime. As a home business owner, it’s imperative that you do everything that you can to protect yourself from fraud. Nothing is fool proof, but if you do just a few simple things, you can reduce your risk of being hit by fraud when it comes to your business.

One of the most common ways that a business gets hit by fraud is through hacking of their various accounts online. Naturally, each business is going to be different, but what each account usually has in common is a login consisting of a user name and password. Password crackers have become quite advanced these days. Therefore, it is imperative that you do two things. The first is that you come up with a password that is as difficult to guess as possible. I use Roboform, which randomly generates an 8 character code consisting of letters and numbers. These codes are fairly tough to crack.

The second thing you need to do is change your password often, at least every month. The reason for this is that in case there is somebody who is intent on getting your password, by regularly changing it, it makes it that much harder for them to guess at it. They may stumble onto a password that you were using 3 months ago, but if it’s no longer the current one, it does them no good. By doing this, you greatly increase the security of your business accounts.

Another thing you want to do is keep track of your sales and refunds. If you are starting to notice some unusual activity from certain people or even certain parts of the world, you can block access to these people. For example, a program I use, DLGuard, allows you to block either email addresses or IP addresses or both. I have done this with several people suspected of committing fraud (stealing products) and it has worked very well in reducing the problem.

You never, and I do mean NEVER want to click on a link in an email being sent to you telling you that you need to update your password or some other information. No company you worth with will EVER send you these kind of emails without first addressing you by your name and then without telling you to log into your account to take care of the problem. They will never ask for your password or include a link for you to click on to have some action taken. If in doubt, go to your account and email the company in question. They’ll confirm whether the email you received is legit or not.

If you do these few simple things, you will greatly reduce YOUR risk of getting hit by fraud.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Looking for a solid 4 step plan to building your own business…FREE? Pick up my free report at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/4steps.html and get started TODAY!