PPC115 | Business

Which? Trusted Trader explains some of the main ways fraudsters might target you or your customers and shares top tips to avoid your pest control company getting stung.

Falling victim to a scam can be devastating – both personally and financially – and fraudsters are coming up with ever more sophisticated ways to get their hands on your money.

More than £1.2bn was stolen through fraud in 2022, according to the latest data from industry body UK Finance. Although this was less than in 2021, it’s still a staggering amount – the equivalent of over £2,300 per minute.

But if you know what to look for, you can take steps to protect yourself and your customers and prevent the theft of hard-earned cash. Here are four types of scams you might encounter as a pest management business owner. We also explain how to avoid them.

Authorised push payment scams

Over £485m was lost through authorised push payment (APP) – or bank transfer – scams in 2022. These are where you are duped into transferring money to a scammer pretending to be someone else, such as a trusted organisation like your bank or HMRC.

Your customers could even be targeted by someone impersonating you, a scammer convincing them to transfer money to their bank account instead of yours.

You can help to protect you and your customers by taking these steps:

• Be wary of any unexpected requests to make a payment. Contact the company or organisation directly (using a phone number you know is safe) to check whether the request really came from them. Provide invoices and bank details to your customers in person where possible so they can be sure they’ve come from you.
• Warn your customers to be suspicious of any emails, letters or calls saying you’ve changed your bank details. Ask them to contact you directly if they receive anything that looks suspicious.
• Act quickly if you think you’ve been the victim of an APP scam, contact your bank to report it as soon as possible – as well as the bank you sent the money to – and follow our advice to try to get your money back. Advise any customers who’ve become victims to do the same.

Invoice scams

Invoice fraud involves a criminal pretending to be from one of your suppliers. The scammer will ask you to change the bank details you usually use to pay the supplier so they get the money instead.

These scams can be very sophisticated, and the criminals can find out real invoice and payment details to make their request look genuine. They can intercept emails, spoof emails from the supplier or even hack into its email system.

To avoid invoice fraud, follow this advice from the government-backed Take Five campaign:

• Always confirm any bank account details with the supplier directly before paying, either in person or over the phone, and check them against any details you’ve used previously
• Don’t use the contact details in an email, as the scammers may have changed them - instead, check the company’s official website to find out how to get in touch or use a phone number you already know is genuine
• Be wary of requests to make payments using a method other than the one you usually use to pay the supplier
• If you’re making a payment to an account for the first time, transfer a small sum first, then check with the company that it’s arrived (using contact details you’re sure are genuine)
• Regularly check your bank statements to look for any suspicious payments
• Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve been a victim of fraud
• Read more advice for businesses from the Take Five campaign takefive-stopfraud.org.uk

CEO scams

This is when a scammer sends an email posing as someone’s boss or another senior manager, asking them to make an urgent payment or change the bank details they use to pay a supplier.

The criminals might create a spoof email that looks like the real deal, or even hack the boss’s real email account to send the request. If a member of staff transfers the money, they’ll be sending it straight to an account controlled by the criminals.

To avoid this scam, make sure staff know about CEO scams and to do the following:

• Always check unusual payment requests with you directly or with the company they’re told is requesting any changes - do this over the phone using a number they know is safe
• Be suspicious of any request to make a payment outside of usual processes
• Be cautious about any unexpected emails or letters requesting urgent bank transfers, even if it seems to have come from within the company
• Let you know immediately if they think they’ve been a victim of fraud so you can contact your bank.

Companies House scams

A scammer contacts you via a telephone call, email or letter pretending to be from Companies House asking you to make a payment or provide personal details. In a scam telephone call you may be told you need to pay a late filing penalty, or asked for your authentication code or directors’ details, such as their dates of birth.

Scam emails may have documents attached or ask you to enter your authentication code, or you may be sent a fake complaint about your business or request to correct information. Some also ask you to click on a link to download a document or verify your identity.

Fake letters include ones asking for payment for company registration or from prosecuting solicitors asking for payment to clear an unpaid invoice.

Advice to avoid Companies House scams:

• Don’t make payments or provide personal information over the phone to someone claiming to be from Companies House
• Never give your authentication code over the phone
• If you receive any suspicious calls from someone claiming to be from Companies House, try to get the caller’s return telephone number and contact Companies House on 0303 1234 500
• Be wary of any email that appears to be from Companies House, and don’t click on any links, open any attachments or reply to it
• Forward any suspicious email to phishing@companieshouse.gov.uk then delete it.

For more infomration on Companies House scams and what to do if you spot them visit gov.uk/guidance/reporting-scams-pretending-to-be-from-companies-house

Spotting email scams

1. Check the sender’s email address
A scam email usually comes from an unrecognisable email address. This may consist of random numbers, letters or words that have nothing to do with the organisation the scammer is impersonating. To find out if there’s a fraudster behind what appears to be a genuine email, hover your cursor over or right-click on the sender’s name, and you should be able to view the email address behind it.

2. Is the greeting impersonal?
Some email scams include your name in the first line of the message. However, not all do. Sometimes scam emails will just say “Hi” and not include a name, or your email address will be used after “Hi”. This impersonal approach is a sign that it’s likely to be a scammer behind the email.

3. Check contact info and dates
Hover your cursor over anywhere you’d usually expect there to be a link in the email. For example, check the bottom of the email for ‘contact us’ buttons or links to terms and conditions. By hovering your cursor over any links, you can see the URL they’ll send you to without clicking on them. It’s also worth checking whether any dates in the email are correct. Often, scammers will forget this detail.

4. Check the branding
Take a look at the quality of any logos in the email. For example, if the images are pixelated, this can strongly indicate that the email is a scam. Compare the branding in the email to the company’s genuine website or any genuine emails you’ve received from the company in the past. 

5. Check if the linked website is legitimate
If you’ve clicked through to a website from an email thinking it is genuine, double-check the authenticity of the website before entering any details. The domain information checker Who.is will show you when the website was created. If the site was created recently, it’s likely to be dodgy. If it’s a big brand or company being impersonated, open a new tab and visit its genuine website to compare the URLs.

If you haven’t yet clicked a link but are being asked to do so you can access a message on your account, avoid the temptation to act quickly. Instead, navigate to the company’s website to log in to your account. If no message or alert is present, you’ll know the email is dodgy.

6. Is the email asking for personal information or bank details?
If an email asks you to update or re-enter your personal information or bank details out of the blue, it is likely to be a scam.
Most companies will never ask for personal information via email.

7. Does it have poor spelling, grammar and presentation?
Scammers are getting better at presenting phishing emails that are more or less free of poor spelling and grammar - but you should still watch out for these tell-tale signs. You might also notice a lack of consistency with the presentation of the email, which may include several different font styles and sizes and a mishmash of logos.

8. Is it trying hard to be ‘official’?
Scammers often try hard to make a dodgy email sound official. They will do this in a number of ways, including by using the word ‘official’. You are unlikely to see the messaging in a truly official email shouting about how official it is.

Scam emails may also contain information such as account numbers and IDs designed to trick you into thinking the email is genuine. Check any of these against your records to see if they match.

9. Is it trying to rush you?
Fraudsters will try to pressure you with time-sensitive offers, encouraging you to act now or miss out on ‘exclusive’ deals. Take your time to make all the checks you need. If the message regards an account you have with the company, organisation or retailer, you should log in separately to your account in a new tab or window.

It’s better to miss out on a genuine deal than risk compromising your personal details.

10. Check with company, brand or department
If you’re still unsure whether a scammer is behind the email you received, get in touch with the brand or company featured in your email directly via social media or its ‘contact us’ page. Check the brand or company’s help and customer services pages. Big companies are sometimes aware of scams and publish advice for customers on what to watch out for.

More from Which?
BPCA members get discounted Which? Trusted Trader membership. Learn more at
bpca.org.uk/which