Unfortunately, fraud is everywhere, and roofing businesses are no exception. Technology has made it easier to fall victim to scams. While you may think, “It’ll never happen to me,” scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and any small business can become a target.
Whether it’s phishing schemes aimed at obtaining sensitive information or employee internal fraud, the risk of fraud is real—and so is the damage it can cause.
But here’s the good news: by being proactive and taking the proper steps to protect your business, you can greatly reduce the risk of becoming victimized by fraud.
In this blog post, we’ll dive into how fraud happens, what makes small businesses vulnerable, and what you can do to safeguard your roofing company. Here are some business fraud prevention tips.
Types of Fraud That Threaten Roofing Businesses
Fraud can sneak up on you in different ways, both from inside your business and external threats. Here’s what to watch out for:
Internal Fraud
Believe it or not, fraud can come from within. It’s not something any of us want to think about, but trusted employees can embezzle money.
Watch for payment issues, missing money, or any unusual financial activity in your business. Things like overpaying vendors, discrepancies in payroll, or false expense claims can all be signs of embezzlement.
External Fraud
Employees, or even you, might fall for convincing phishing scams that lead to further attacks on your business. Unfortunately, there are a lot of external threats to your business. Scammers are always looking for a business’s vulnerabilities and will quickly exploit them.
Phishing is a common fraud attempt where scammers send emails claiming to be someone they’re not. They can pose as a fellow employee or a representative from a trusted service or vendor your business uses.
For example, a phisher may claim to be a top company leader and request that the recipient immediately send over sensitive information, like passwords or credit card numbers. Phishers can manipulate email addresses to appear legit.
Digital Fraud in Payments
Fraud can also occur during transactions, especially if you’re not using a secure payment system. Payment fraud can lead to chargebacks, lost revenue, and damaged customer trust.
What Makes Roofing Businesses Vulnerable to Fraud
Like many small companies, roofing businesses often overlook fraud prevention until it’s too late. Here are some common vulnerabilities roofing businesses can have.
Lack of Awareness
Without proper education, business owners and employees may not recognize phishing scams or social engineering schemes.
Fraudsters use these tactics to access sensitive information and steal from businesses. Ignorance isn’t bliss—if you’re unaware of the risks, you won’t know how to protect your business. Train your team on common scam attempts and be proactive about fraud prevention.
Insecure Payment Methods
Accepting payments through outdated or unverified platforms leaves your business open to fraud. Many roofing companies still accept paper checks as their primary form of payment.
However, checks are the payment method most susceptible to fraud, according to 65% of respondents in the 2024 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey.
Ensuring you have secure payment methods for customers is crucial. Customers appreciate having more payment options. In fact, 91% of homeowners trust contractors who offer digital payment options more than those who only accept checks.
While offering digital payment options is important, ensure you do so securely.
Credit card fraud is a common threat. Roofers on the roofing subreddit have warned others about a popular con where an individual requests a quote, overpays the job amount, and requests that you send over the difference in money. Then, after you’ve sent over the money, it turns out their original payment was fake.
How to Protect Your Business from Credit Card Fraud
Fortunately, there are steps you can take to protect your company from falling victim to fraud:
Educate Your Team
Train employees to recognize the signs of phishing scams and social engineering. Make sure everyone understands the importance of keeping company and customer data secure.
Use Secure Payment Systems
When accepting payments, use a trusted, secure platform that protects you from digital fraud. Tools like JobNimbus Payments help protect your business by keeping everything in one secure system.
Monitor Transactions
Monitor all financial transactions to spot any unusual activity that could indicate fraud.
Use Secure Payments to Keep Your Business Safe
It’s a sad reality that fraud is a booming industry today. Fraud prevention is critical to keeping your business running smoothly. Don’t let scammers get you down—focus on being proactive and safeguarding your business against these attacks. You have to stay vigilant!
One way to protect your business is to invest in software tools like JobNimbus Payments, which helps you efficiently manage your payments and get paid quicker.
Start a free 14-day trial of JobNimbus to help you build a thriving, secure business.
