Fraud is costing businesses millions – and it’s not just the big ones
Michael Tunstall
July 12, 2025
When you think about fraud, it’s easy to picture large corporations under attack, with big budgets and specialist teams to respond.
But in reality, fraud is a growing threat to businesses of every size — and small to medium-sized organisations are often more vulnerable.
Why? Because they typically lack the same layers of protection, formal training, or advanced tools that larger companies have in place.
One of the most common and damaging types of fraud today is identity fraud. That’s where a criminal pretends to be someone you trust — a colleague, supplier, or even a customer — to trick you into making payments, revealing sensitive information, or granting access to systems.
It might start with a convincing email from someone claiming to be your finance director asking for an urgent payment. Or it could involve a hacker using stolen credentials to access your internal tools.
And the main entry point? Still the same old trick: stolen usernames and passwords.
Despite being a well-known risk, credential theft remains incredibly effective. Worse still, AI-powered scams are making it even harder to tell what’s real. Deepfake technology can now mimic voices, faces, and emails with chilling accuracy.
In fact, 69% of businesses report an increase in fraud attempts, and the tactics are getting more sophisticated by the day.
What can you do?
There is some good news: companies that invest in modern identity protection measures are seeing fewer incidents — and in many cases, saving significant amounts of money.
These measures include:
Biometric login (like fingerprint or facial recognition)
Device and location-based authentication
AI-powered fraud detection tools
Even smaller changes can go a long way. Ask yourself:
Do your people use strong, unique passwords for every app?
Is multi-factor authentication (MFA) in place across your systems?
Are your employees trained to spot suspicious emails and unusual behaviour?
The goal isn’t to make life harder — it’s to implement smarter, more secure ways of working that don’t disrupt productivity.
If you’re unsure where to begin or want help reviewing your current approach, we’re here to help. Let’s make sure your business isn’t an easy target.
Get in touch today.
