BMO Bank Of Montreal Issues Anti-Fraud Tips

Many security companies produce anti-fraud tools, and, depending on the situation, will offer advice that goes a little beyond "use our tool."  But banks are perhaps the first type of business people call when they’re experiencing financial issues, and so some new anti-fraud tips from BMO Bank of Montreal may prove especially helpful to small business owners.

The first tip BMO laid out is to "talk to your merchant services provider" in order to find what sorts of routine precautions have been taken.  And the second step’s similar, as owners are supposed to prevent hacking by learning about online safety protocols and patterns.

Next, BMO suggested that small business owners "limit access to account data" and "record storage and disposal."  These steps should make it much easier to detect when things have gone awry, and to see how the problem started.

A more controversial tip is "don’t use free email services to conduct businesses."  We’ll let you decide what to make of that.

Finally, BMO recommended that business owners "follow up with suppliers" and "check your bank accounts," which should again be good ways of making sure all the numbers are right.

A BMO survey found that 17 percent of Canadian small business owners don’t think they’re well-protected against fraud, by the way.