Around one in four small businesses are affected by some kind of fraud every year. It’s a very serious problem that causes billions of pounds in losses, and most businesses have come into contact with a form of fraud, even if the situation didn’t happen to them. While many businesses are becoming more savvy, some don’t believe that they will fall victim to any type of fraudulent interactions.

To prevent fraud in your business, you must first identify where you might be at risk. Risks can come from customers, employees, suppliers, and even your business assets. It’s not just up to your office to be good at identifying risks – everyone involved in your business should be able to at least attempt identifying any fraud risks.

Customers and fraud

For businesses that deal with customers in-person, there is the issue of counterfeit money being used in transactions. Even if your business only accepts card payments online, fake credit or debit cards can be used, or even stolen cards that don’t belong to the person making the purchase.

Identity theft is a huge issue in the world, so even training your staff members in a few basic ways to spot a bad payment or counterfeit money will help keep your business running. Customers can, in this situation, refer to any person who does not directly work for your company, but still has financial dealings with you.

Employees and fraud

When we mention employees and fraud, we definitely aren’t implying that any employees in a business would try to be fraudulent. However, employees are often the target of scams and fraud, because many employees are often the first line of contact in a company and trained to deal with their own situations. Fraud is becoming more sophisticated, and employees are vulnerable to false payments, embezzlement, information theft, and many other issues.

Employees can leave their company susceptible to fraud if they do not have the tools to battle fraud attempts. Always train your employees in the newest fraud techniques, and how to identify fraudulent emails and phone calls.

Training to prevent fraud

Most fraudulent activity can be spotted by putting a few effective processes in place to help minimise or catch illegal behaviour. First, employees must know what to look for, then, they need to know what to do next.

The most common types of fraud in business are those that involve finances – such as accounts payable and accounting issues. To commit fraud, a person must have access to money and accounts in order to make their false payment, steal someone’s identity, or do something similar. Train your employees to ensure they understand your company’s procedures, especially in regard to any payments that need to be made to or from the company. Every employee should follow your company guidelines to the letter and should be able to easily detect spam emails and fake accounts being used for purchases.

Remember: If something doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t.

Of course, keeping a firm handle on your paperwork can go a long way to preventing fraud in and outside your business. Paperwork theft is still one of the biggest causes of identity theft and fraud in this country, particularly from business owners who throw paperwork with sensitive data on it straight into the recycling bin. If you’d like to know more about how you can protect your business from fraud and still get your recycling fix, just get in touch with us today.

Recent news of the impact we have on the planet has made most of us sit up and take notice of our own recycling habits. While it’s easy to see the ways in which we can make a difference at home, it’s often a different story in the workplace.

There are many benefits to going green in the office, including reduced costs and enhanced productivity. It can also improve the way customers and clients view your company, and who wouldn’t want that?

If this sounds appealing to you read on for our 8 top tips to help you go greener in the office.

• Cutting down on the number of printed documents is an easy way to begin your journey to a greener office. Take a moment before printing to consider if you need a paper copy of this document. If the answer is no, easy, don’t print. If you’re not sure, try not printing and see if you come back to do it later. You can also make the documents you do need to print greener by printing double-sided or using the eco-mode on your printer.

• Save energy by turning off all non-essential appliances before leaving the office. If you usually hit standby make sure you are fully shutting down instead. This doesn’t only apply for home time, but should also be best practice for when you’re leaving for a long meeting or lunch too.

• Make recycling easy by creating a station with clear information. If you provide staff with a simple way to sort their rubbish they will be more inclined to do so on a regular basis. Think about designating sections for documents that need to be shredded, ink cartridges and even WEEE electrical waste.

• Switch to recycled products wherever possible. This could be printer paper, stationery, paper towels or refillable ink cartridges. Speak to your suppliers about the most eco-friendly and cost-effective options and start switching.

• Literally turn your office green by filling it with plants. Plants have been proven to reduce stress, increase productivity and even lower sickness rates. It’s also nice to walk into a bright and green office every morning, putting you in a good mood to start the day.

• Remove disposable options from the office if there are any, instead ask staff to use mugs and glasses over throwaway cups. Branded or personalised mugs are a great way to encourage everyone to get on board with this idea.

• If you’re prone to popping out and buying lunch each day, try switching to homemade lunches. You’ll cut down on packaging with reusable storage and save yourself quite a bit of money. Did you know the average lunch spend of around £5 per day equates to well over £1000 a year? Take it one step further and make the food you eat greener by cutting down on meat and using in-season & local produce.

• Use environmentally friendly products to clean your office. There are so many brands offering animal and planet friendly products now that you are spoilt for choice. If you use a cleaning service, discuss with them what options they can offer you.

Now we’ve given you the tools you need to get started we hope you will give green a go. Don’t forget that we can help you dispose of unwanted documents in a safe and secure way. Once your documents are shredded they are recycled and returned as low-grade paper – another great way to keep up the green ethos. Sign up for one of our paper shredding services online today or get in touch to discuss your requirements.

It may not seem like something that you should be thinking about during the festive season, but if you get a bit of downtime in your business over Christmas, then it might be the perfect opportunity to consider how you can best approach data security. We know it can be hard to consider the best way to make sure that your business data is safe, so as a Christmas gift to you, we’ve put together some of the best approaches to take and things to think about this year.

Take A Look At Your Passwords

Remembering all of your different passwords might be difficult, but remember they are there for a reason. Mainly, They’re there to make sure that your computer-based data is kept safe and secure. Passwords are unique to the user and therefore it should be something that is memorable. That said, it should never be something that could be easy to guess, like your birthday, your pets name or your anniversary. It’s a good idea to not only look at your own passwords, but also to ensure that your staff do too on a regular basis. Changing passwords and ensuring that they are as secure as possible is a good task to set for Christmas time, as it will be easy to remember when you need to revisit them.

Keep Physical Data Safe With Shredding

Whilst we are all moving towards a relatively paperless world, chances are that there is still likely to be some physical data and paperwork that we hold as businesses. It is important that this physical data never gets into the wrong hands, which means that you need to do your best to keep it safe. Shredding is hands down the best option for this. Not only does it destroy the data, but it also disposes of it in a fashion that ensures that it could never be put back together. And it’s a perfect festive task – just whack on some Christmas music and sing along!

Educate Yourself On Data

Knowledge is power, and this is definitely true when it comes to data for your business. Take the time to understand not only the data that you need to keep secure for your business – but why it’s important that this data is kept secure too. Not only this, but if you employ staff in your business, then perhaps you should encourage them to learn more about data too. After all, the biggest security weakness in any business is it’s people, and educating your team about data security will help them be on board with any new rules or policies that you are planning on putting in place.

Consider the Cloud

In this modern world, the way that we store things is really starting to change. The cloud is just one example of this. Storage for data has become remote, and with this there is the added safety and security that can come with cloud-based storage. Of course, there are some concerns when it comes to how things are stored on the Cloud, and many business owners are still concerned about sending their data somewhere off-site (even though for disaster recovery purposes this is a good thing). But if you choose a reputable storage provider, then everything should be fine, and all your questions will be answered.

At Hungry Shredder, we spend most of our time shredding sensitive documentation for businesses who don’t have the time or resource to do it in-house, but know it is an important part of their data security plans. Out outsourced document shredding service is the perfect way to ensure you keep your business data safe, without having to lose too much of your valuable time on it. If you would like to know more about our festive shredding offers, just get in touch with us today.

The holiday season is upon us once again, and that can mean only one thing: mountains of presents wrapped in a variety of packaging. Family households are known for shoving all of this into a black bag or into the recycling bin and hoping for the best, but with everything from cardboard to dyed wrapping paper helping us hide our special gifts, there are a few things that you should know.

Wrapping Paper

Some local authorities will accept wrapping paper in home recycling collections, but not all. This is because some recycled paper mills do not take wrapping paper. The materials that go into making some kinds of wrapping paper result in a paper that can’t be recycled. This is because this wrapping paper contains non-paper additives such as glitter, which can’t be recycled with the paper.

Before you try and recycle wrapping paper that can definitely be recycled (wrapping paper that is plain and/or non-laminated, if it’s coloured) ensure that you remove any sticky tape, ribbons, and bows. These store-bought decorations often cannot be recycled. A good way to know whether or not you can recycle your wrapping paper is this: if you can scrunch it up, it can be recycled.

Christmas Decorations

Tinsel, and glass or plastic baubles should be carefully disposed of in your general waste, but lights and wreaths can be recycled. If your wreath is made of natural materials, it can be recycled as green or garden waste once the glitter, ribbons, and bows have been removed from it.

Fairy lights are becoming increasingly popular at Christmas time and are even used to light up and showcase some gifts. These can be recycled at household waste recycling centres, though some local authorities may be happy to collect small electricals as a part of their recycling collections – you could also check the large recycling bins at supermarkets to see if they can be put there. However, any item that is classed as a piece of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment should be disposed of at a designated area, typically a household waste recycling centre, rather than put into general waste. Any item that has a plug or uses batteries (such as the LED lights that are used to decorate gift boxes etc.) is classed as electrical waste.

Labels and Envelopes

Labels and envelopes are everywhere during Christmas time. You may not think about it, but some of these contain sensitive personal information and you should endeavour to keep them in your pile of “things that need to be shredded”.

If a label or envelope has your name and address on it, it could be classed as a sensitive document, because it reveals your personal information. Try to keep these paper items away from the rest of your recyclables until you have found the time to shred them.

Afterwards, put all of your shredded paper into your paper and cardboard recycling box. Remember, if you get a gift in the mail, pull off its name and address label to be shredded. If you have a full bin already (and at Christmas that wouldn’t surprise us!) then you might want to hire in a shredding company to help. At Hungry Shredder, we run an on and off-site shredding service guaranteed to help you through the festive season, and increase your recycling too! For more information, get in touch with us today.

As a business owner, your main aim is to protect and grow your business. And yet, every year 1 in 4 small and medium-sized businesses are affected by fraud. Fraud attempts can affect any business of any size, and can cost upwards of £18.9 billion in losses. Much as you might not like to think about it, fraud is a very real risk to your business, and something you should ensure you have protections in place for. But the problem is, a lot of small business owners aren’t really sure what fraud looks like and what the risks are, let along how to protect themselves against it. So today, we have a few pointers for you.

Identify Risk Points

The first step in protecting your business from fraud is to identify where your risk points are. These can vary from business to business, but typically fall into 4 categories:

• Risks From Customers – from counterfeit money to stolen payment details or fake orders

• Risks From Employees – No one likes to think that their employees would defraud them, but sadly, it can and does happen. Whether they are disgruntled ex-employees or just bad people, they have access to information that could ruin your business.

• Risks From Suppliers And Service Providers – Other businesses you deal with can also defraud you if you’re not careful, often by overcharging, or not delivering goods or services that have been paid for,

• Risks To Business Assets – What assets does your business have that could prove a valuable target for fraudsters? This could include buildings, equipment and cash, as well as customer data, brand identity and even future product ideas.

Different Types Of Fraud

• Business Identity Theft – Business identity theft is a lot like personal identity theft. It happens when a thief or fraudster impersonates your business to access information, make orders or steal money or alter key information for the business. Fraudsters will often misuse genuine credentials for the business, stolen through hacking or physical theft.

• Intellectual Property Theft – Intellectual property theft involved copying your company’s creative property, and then using it for personal or business gain. This kind of theft can be perpetrated by individuals and businesses alike, and is most commonly found in corporate espionage. Intellectual property is a form of intangible asset, and covers anything from products and inventions to designs, the contents of a book and your company branding.

• Company Data Hacking – This is one of the more well-known forms of fraud, since it’s often talked about in the news. This is when a criminal or disgruntled employee will unlawfully access your company data and steal it. They could then sell it on the black market, use it for identity theft or even for extortion, which is what makes company data so valuable, and dangerous if it gets into the wrong hands.

Document Security

So how do businesses protect themselves against fraud? By protecting the security of their documentation. Fraud often occurs because thieves gain access to bank account information, passwords or other information that has been written down and then discarded. These documents can be picked up by anyone, from desks and bins to the big recycle bins, and even at recycling plants. That’s why having a shredding solution in place is essential to protect your business from fraud. Ensuring you collect sensitive information and store it securely when it is no longer needed is the first step of the process. Next, you will need a secure, accredited shredding partner to dispose of the documents for you safely, and provide you with a certificate of destruction afterwards to prove it.

At Hungry Shredder, we help businesses protect themselves against fraud, corporate espionage and theft by providing a secure document shredding service. Our experts can provide you with a selection of secure sacks for you to store your documents in, as well as both on and off-site shredding solutions, so that your business can rest easy knowing that your business data is safe. For more information, please get in touch with us today.