#Yp yellow pages for free#

Try doing an online search for the company using words like 'complaint' or 'scam.' If you are pulling up multiple companies with similar names, put the company name in quotes in order to find an exact match. Also, remember that Google is your friend.

While it can take a little bit of time out of your day, it's worth knowing if the company trying to work with you has a bad reputation.

#Yp yellow pages for free#

Check out a new company that is invoicing you or trying to get your business.Ĭheck a company out for free with the Better Business Bureau, with the North Carolina Attorney General's Office (or your state Attorney General's office), and the state Attorney General's office in the state where the other company is supposedly based.You can reap extra benefits by training them in other ways, such as client retention or customer service, in order to increase your sales or business results! Train these employees aggressively to spot potential scams and to take a step back without fear of reprisal if something looks or sounds fishy. If this person is not responsible for approving purchases and paying the bills, he/she should be working closely with the person who does have those responsibilities to ensure only legitimate services and products are purchased. Aside from scam protection, this is a great way to ensure that all contacts are getting a consistent business message. Designate only certain staff to interact with outside contacts.ĭesignate one or two people who have the authority to work with outside callers (or anyone who mails, emails, or faxes) on business matters.Even if an invoice is from a legitimate company with whom you do business, it could inadvertently contain an error, be a duplicate of a previous invoice, or be for the purchase of another client that has been mistakenly applied to your business. If an invoice looks suspicious or is unfamiliar, do some checking before paying it. Inspect all invoices and only pay for verified purchases.ĭepending on the size and nature of your business, consider implementing a purchase order system to make sure you're paying only legitimate expenses.But make sure you take all appropriate steps to make sure your recording is legal. You can potentially protect yourself by recording all incoming calls in order to challenge a scammer later in court. Phone recordings can easily be changed to make it sound like you're agreeing to make a purchase. To prevent inadvertently giving scammers an opportunity to use your words against you, you and your staff should avoid saying 'yes,' 'correct,' 'I agree,' or similar phrases on the phone.

Train your staff to avoid saying 'yes' on the phone.Once an employee interacts with the scammer, the influx of additional calls and invoices starts. In fact, send them a link to this article and make them read it! This is probably the most important step as an alert employee can stop the headache before it happens. Train your staff to recognize scams, especially directory scams.Įducate your employees about how these types of scams work.So what can you do to protect your business or organization from this kind of fraud?