Brands are Failing with Their Responsibility to Protect Consumers as UK Fraud Cost Rises to £137 Billion

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Consumer Protection|Brands are Failing with Their Responsibility to Protect Consumers as UK Fraud Cost Rises to £137 BillionIt appears cybercriminals are having a feast scamming online, sparing no internet user, especially the vulnerable many who completely always trust every link sent to them in your brand name.

You can help, even though not entirely, but in some way, and this includes leveraging tools to fight against the ravaging internet crimes. These criminal activities only end up making e-commerce threatened.

Due to the growing insecurity and the rise of businesses and the need to educate customers more than ever, Skurio has investigated the current state of fraud on consumers to establish what companies could be losing, and you can click here to see their interactive slider that demonstrates the devastating daily cost of UK fraud.

UK Fraud Cost Surge Currently £137 Billion: What Items Are Experiencing the Effect
Cyber fraud is costing the UK economy approximately £137,000,000,000 annually and this means that consumers are missing out on being able to purchase various items that are used daily in society.

Here’s a breakdown of some of these consumer items that could have been purchased had it not been due to fraud daily:

Cups of Coffee:136,488,169.
Netflix Monthly Subscriptions: 62,661,513
Cinema Tickets: 55,606,291
Family Packs of 16 Toilet Rolls: 44,157,937.
Full Tanks of Petrol: 7,325,184
Smartwatches: 990 349
PlayStation 5: 834,112
Round the World Flight Tickets: 75,068

Cybercriminals Not Pitying Brands and Customers Amidst Post Pandemic Effect

Internet fraudsters are not retreating, and newer strategies are finding their place in the system to beat customers’ intelligence. Pharming, phishing, and many other defrauding techniques are also taking new forms, thereby becoming even more complicated for consumers to tell what from what.

For instance, website cloning and the use of your domain name is a big vulnerability. Even if a customer would manage to tell that the site is fake, the look and feel of the site confuses them and they end up trading with the account.

Typosquatting is a name for fake websites using domain names similar to that of your business. They will also add payment options, so that site users think they are dealing with the website. Sometimes, your customers end up on the website due to an error when trying to contact your site. Not only will a fake domain copy your site name, but they could also go on to promote the website, which means they will be gathering even more targets to victimise in your name.

Smishing is also a thing. In this case, a scammer sends out tons of messages containing malicious links to users. The links usually point to their fake website which is designed to store the information provided by the person falling victim.

How about finding your site credentials on the dark web? Well, these credentials could be used to jeopardise your integrity in the future, if not now.

Business-Oriented Response by Businesses to Curb Fraud

Unfortunately, you are responsible for safeguarding users that you think could be using your website. Your domain registrar cannot do so much, likewise the government. Therefore, you must take the fight against scammers if you must ensure to preserve your integrity.

The governments are contributing nonetheless. For instance, the US and Dutch law enforcement, under Operation Bayonet, had seized and disabled AlphaBay and Hansa, two prominent dark web marketplaces.

In your case, to respond swiftly to scammers’ attacks, consider the following:

  • Brand trademark. If you must justify and hasten takedowns, you want to trademark your company. Trademarking your company does not stop phishers, but it at least gives you the edge to take them down when you discover them.
  • Top-level domain registration. You can register as many top-level domains as you can that are similar to your brand. If you do not do it, scammers will.
  • Educate customers. Customer education can be vital in the fight against internet fraudsters. You simply have to develop clear and regular communications policies that inform your customers about the information your business can request from them.
  • Invest in the domain and dark monitoring solutions. You detect and eliminate phishing websites early before their presence leverages customer ignorance, which affects your brand reputation.

Final Thoughts

Dark web and domain monitoring tools are sophisticated ways to discourage fraudsters. Nonetheless, ensure to communicate your policies regularly with the customer. It should contain what personal information you collect, why and when, as well as the information you do not require or the only web pages they are supposed to enter their information on.

Nine Ways You Can Further Your Career

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Further your Career|Nine Ways You Can Further Your CareerCareer development is not the responsibility of your manager. You are responsible. The manager is liable for your output. Thus, determining your goals and accomplishments at the annual review time is not the best idea.

These 9 career-boosting steps you can take today and in the coming months will boost your career.

Set Small Goals Often

There is a lot of emphasis on goals during annual reviews. It is difficult to set realistic, attainable goals in a year; it is actually too long. For this reason, setting smaller goals is more appropriate.

Consider what you do on a daily basis. Are there any ways to elevate that work? How can you improve yourself? Put these items on your list of goals and give them some thought. Once you’ve set your goals, give yourself a deadline by which you must learn these things.

You should grade yourself at the end of the deadline. Please. You know how it goes. What did you do? How well did you do it? You may also want to ask a friend or colleague how they would rate or grade your new skills. Do it again.

Stretch Yourself

We think the only way to succeed is to get out of our comfort zones. As such, you must learn to think outside of your expertise.

Dare to be scared. Are you afraid to speak in public? Attend business presentations and networking events. Do you feel anxious about sharing your industry insights? Request that someone publish your articles. Emotional intelligence training for geeks could be one way to stretch yourself.

Ask For Feedback

It is important to do self-assessments and to get feedback. You should also get feedback constantly. You should ask the following questions after every meeting:

What were your most successful strategies?
If it were even better, what would it be?”

From these two questions, you can learn a great deal. There is a lot you can learn from these two questions about the quality of your work and performance. Try them out.

Learn About Your Industry

Every week, spend some time learning about your industry. Consider yourself to be being tested on your industries and companies. Consult experts. Get advice from colleagues and managers. Speak to your clients about their feelings. Gather information from industry experts. Share the insights you collect with your clients.

Research

Keep up with the latest blogs, whether they are big or small. Take the time to read books relating to your profession. Read books about business that encourage you to think differently. As a reader, you can spark conversations with other people you meet at networking events. You can also build your career by learning new ways to do things and different hacks about living your life that will make it run more smoothly, both at work and at home.

Networking

The standard LinkedIn invite should never be sent. Not ever. That is all we can say. Let the recipient know what you have in common with him or her, and how you want to help them. To get a face-to-face introduction, ask a member of your network. Keeping an impression is the key to successful networking. But LinkedIn is not the only platform. Meet as many people as possible by attending industry events, local events, and local functions. This will also keep you interested in what you’re doing.

Find A Mentor

For all those elements, mentors can be an excellent resource. What are you looking for in a mentor? Let your mentor know what you are looking for. Do you have a question about the industry or how your company operates? Want to find out how you can stretch your abilities? Try mentoring!

Find A Protégé

Furthermore, a good protégé can be a valuable source of information and knowledge as well. It is possible to break your paradigms when you have a protege. In addition to exposing you to new ideas, they can present you with new approaches and ways to approach problems.

Always Be Listening

Even if you are happy in your current job, building relationships with new people and listening to other opportunities never hurts. Whether you want to grow and improve your career or grow and improve your personal life, that’s what you need to do.

Don’t shy away from your next opportunity or new connection. It feels great when people notice you! Do you have any other tips that could help? Please share them in the comments below.

The Challenges of Responding to the Coronavirus Pandemic in the Business World

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | The Challenges of Responding to the Coronavirus Pandemic in the Business WorldRight now, there are a lot of companies that are figuring out how they are going to respond to the pandemic moving forward. Even though it is great news that many people have already gotten vaccinated, the virus is still out there. Furthermore, the virus is continuing to mutate, creating a lot of concerns for companies that are trying to stay afloat. For this reason, a lot of people are going back to school to get extra credentials, as the cost of CFA has gotten lower. What are a few of the biggest challenges that companies are going to face moving forward? Take a look at some of the key topics below.

The Growing Role of the Digital World

One of the biggest challenges is the increasing digitization of the business world. Because a lot of people are unable to go to physical stores right now, more people are purchasing goods and services online. Companies need to do everything they can to make sure they are accessible online. It is true that some products and services are more amenable to the online world than others. At the same time, it is incumbent on the companies to be as creative as possible. The more they can open doors to the digital world, the easier time they will have generating revenue in the current environment. It will be interesting to see how companies do this moving forward.

The Challenge of Supply Chains

Another major challenge that companies are facing right now has to do with supply chain issues. In the past, a lot of companies would try to rely on a single supplier for everything. The biggest benefit of this is that companies can develop a strong relationship with a single supplier, knowing that the supplier understands exactly what they want. Now, this is not a smart move. It is important for companies to rely on a variety of suppliers to hedge their risk. What this means is that if something happens to that supplier, such as they are forced to shut down because of changing regulations and their jurisdictions, the company will still be able to rely on other suppliers to fill the gaps. This is something that businesses will have to consider moving forward.

The Growing Reliance on Work from Home

There are a lot of businesses who are wondering how they are going to contend with the current work-from-home culture. Right now, there are a lot of companies that are still unable to return to the office. Because of current virus transmission rates, along with regulations in their areas, a lot of companies still have to have their employees work from home. Even though there are a lot of benefits that come with working from home, companies also still have to make sure their team members can communicate with one another. Companies that can find a way to ensure their employees can stay on the same page will be put in the best position possible to be successful.

Address These Growing Challenges

These are just a few of the many challenges that businesses are facing right now. As the pandemic continues to be an issue, companies need to figure out how they were going to address these challenges. Business owners and leaders need to remember that this is not something they need to go through on their own. There are professionals who are willing to lend a helping hand to businesses in need. If companies can find a way to overcome these challenges, they can set themselves up for success moving forward.

You Need HR Services – Here’s Why

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |HR Services|You Need HR Services - Here's WhyDid you know that there are over 30 million businesses in the US right now that hire almost 60 million people? Small businesses are popping up all over the place and those small businesses are employing people to work within their walls. While large enterprises are still sweeping through and making a name for themselves, it’s smaller businesses that need some help with human resource issues as they crop up.

Small businesses are facing some of the biggest challenges in-house than bigger businesses, and they are often on a very steep learning curve. Outsourcing issues you might have with contracts and employee separation agreements is important and you will find that HR issues like payroll disputes are often better left to experts. An outsourced agency could be the support you need, and understanding what they can do for you will help. If you are operating a small business, the best thing that you could do is to check out whether you need outsourced HR services in the first place. You might not even think that you need a human resources department, but if you’re hiring people, you need someone to manage them. You’re the owner and you should be considering keeping up with your regular business practices.

The last thing that you want to do is leave things up to chance. Your employees can be your best asset and below, we’ve got a list of reasons you need to have HR services to help your business.

    1. Reducing your overheads. Did you know that a HR department can help you to reduce your overheads? HR departments often increase your staff, which means that you have to have more desks, more technology and more space for documents. If you outsource your HR services, you’re going to save on this and still get an excellent service. Great HR departments outside your business are going to help you to save money in the long term. The costs can vary when you pay an agency, so shop around and get the right one.
    2. Attracting employees. A big red flag for the best talent out there is a business that has no regular processes in place to make sure they are protected. A HR department is one that will ensure that your staff are happy, protected and able to continue their work. If you’re not experienced in recruitment, you don’t have to be. You can have the experts doing the job for you and this will help you to attract the best talent. Their onboarding processes are going to be targeted, too, which will help you to bring on the best people.
    3. Training. You know that your business works with you at the helm; it’s why you’re the owner. If you want to ensure that your business training and education works well with your employees, contact a HR agency outside the business. Training may not even be a huge part of your business but it also doesn’t have to be. It can pay to outsource this as training isn’t cheap!
    4. Policy development. It’s not easy to develop a range of employee policies, especially if you’re not aware of the law. You can hire an expert to do this for you, though, and they can work with you to come up with employee separation agreements and working contracts that will be used across all departments. The right HR services can help you to develop policies that suit your business and what you need.
    5. Coping with risks. There are some things that can be a liability in businesses and you might not know all of them. It’s okay if you don’t; that’s why you have external HR resources to help. You might not know much about labor laws, but your HR expert will. There are plenty of laws like this that are out there and these change all of the time. The best thing to do here is to have a trained professional handle it all for you and keep up with them – so you don’t have to.
    6. Payroll issues. One of the biggest HR issues is payroll! People not getting paid, people not getting the right perks and benefits and trying to get what they are contracted to get is important. Your HR service can handle this for you because you don’t need to let this slip through the cracks. You have to stop what you’re doing so that you can deal with difficult issues, but if you hire a HR expert, you’re going to be able to avoid this and let someone else handle it. There’s nothing wrong with stepping aside and asking someone else to take over; you just have to be brave enough to ask for help!
    7. Health insurance. A HR service is going to be the best place to look for the best health plans out there and with the right service, you’re going to be able to offer your employees the best. Going with an outside HR company will help you to have access to a range of benefits that you wouldn’t normally get, too. These are the benefits you want to look for for your staff.
    8. Insurance management. Did you know that your human resource department can work with you to set up the right insurances? There are so many different types of insurance out there that you have to understand, and there are HR experts to handle it all. There are liability insurances and workers’ compensation insurances, professional liability and commercial insurance. It’s a lot, but you are one person and you don’t have to worry about understanding it all.

Human resource experts are out there looking after businesses. You will never have to worry about your business being without an expert in people if you hire a great HR service to work with you. Your whole business is going to be built on the people who work for you – make sure that they are as looked after as possible and don’t skimp on this expense.

How To Impress Potential Business Investors

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Business Investors|How To Impress Potential Business InvestorsNot all businesses require investors, but if yours does because you want it to grow more quickly, you can’t keep up with demand, or you can see that it will be much bigger than you can handle on your own, you will need to be able to impress those who might invest their money with you.

When you meet with investors, you have one chance to get your pitch right and let them know why they should give you their money and not invest it elsewhere. This is why you need to be wholly prepared beforehand. Here are some tips so that you will be prepared and ready to be a success.

Know Your Figures

What investors are going to be most interested in is the financial aspect of your business. It’s true they may also love what you do – in fact, it certainly helps – but this is not the only reason they will invest. They need to know that they will make a return on this investment; this is how they make money, and they won’t want to lose.

You will need to really know your figures if you are going to impress potential business investors and prove to them that their money will grow if they put it into your business. You will therefore need to be sure of:

  • How much your goods cost to buy
  • What your margins are
  • How much profit you can make
  • What your other outgoings out
  • What potential growth there is and over how long

Knowing these figures will help your investor decide whether it is worth them investing with you and see that you understand your business and business in general.

Show Them You’re Serious

An investor will need to know you’re serious about your business before they will invest. The last thing they want to do is give you the money you have been looking for, only to find that you grow tired of this business and want to move on to something else. If you can show that you are serious about what you are doing and that you have gone to great lengths to get it this far, they will be more comfortable investing.

One way to show how serious you are is to have a professional website. Investing in this and having experts create it for you is proof that you aren’t going to give up and do something else any time soon. Your website is also a great way to showcase what you do and is therefore an easy place to direct potential investors if they want to see exactly what you do. Make sure it is up to date and contains all the relevant information they will need to see.

You can also show you’re serious by having a thorough, up-to-date, well-thought-out business plan. This will show that you have considered where you want the business to go and what you want to be able to do with it in the future, whether that’s finding the top places to buy a second business to add to your portfolio, selling your current company when it reaches a certain level of profit, or anything else.

Prove That You’re Different

It is relatively easy to set up a business these days, thanks to technology. The fact that jobs are sometimes difficult to come by is another reason there are many new businesses being created; people are making jobs for themselves.

You will need to show any potential investor that you are not only different but better than your competitors. Show them what problem you are solving and how your business is solving it, for example. You can also show them evidence that you are an expert in your field, making your business the one that people are more likely to come to.

Address Possible Issues

You’re eager for your business to change the world and solve existing issues, which is fantastic. However, this is insufficient information to persuade investors that your prized project is going to work out and won’t fall apart when it’s put under pressure.

Consider the potential problems that your project and brand could encounter in the future. They should be highlighted or perhaps given their own section in any presentation you offer your potential investors. Investors want to know that their money is secure even when things aren’t going well. The greatest impression you can create is to show them that you know how to solve issues and that you’ve thought ahead to what they might be.