Fighting fraud—check out the financial tools that can help

Protect your assets

In Q1 2022 Truist conducted nationwide research with 522 small business owners. We covered a lot of topics—one being fraud. So here we’ll discuss what we learned, plus share financial tools and other ways to help protect yourself from fraud.

Small business owner concern about fraud has continued to climb over the past two years—for good reason. In 2021, the number of businesses experiencing fraud rose 64% in a single year.^{Disclosure 1}

Financial fraud—wire, check, and credit card fraud—is the most common, but cyberfraud, led by malware, phishing, and Business Email Compromise (BEC), has been growing annually at a 16% pace.^{Disclosure 1}

Boost your fraud defenses

Steps to defend against fraud range from employee education to digital defenses. But some of the most valuable are tools provided by your financial partners. Check out our chart to see how.

Fraud concern	Details	Financial tools	Outcomes
Exposure to check fraud	Checks are #1 in fraud attempts^{Disclosure 2} Check and payment tampering is 4X higher in small businesses^{Disclosure 3} 66% of small businesses surveyed experienced check fraud^{Disclosure 1}	Online bill payment Online payroll services	Reduces the opportunity for check stock to be stolen Decreases the possibility of issued checks being altered Converts many of your payments to vendors and staff to electronic payments
Wire transfer fraud	#3 in fraud attempts^{Disclosure 2} 32% of companies targeted noted wire fraud^{Disclosure 2}	Secure online banking transfer options that are user ID and password protected	Provides electronic transfers between your company's accounts Transfters funds to other institutions using your choice of secure methods
Account fraud	21% of small businesses have experienced fraud in the past 2 years^{Disclosure 1} 39% actively monitor account balances and transaction status^{Disclosure 1}	Online bank statements	Reduces the opportunity to have checking account data compromised through statement theft Paid check data can be integrated easily into accounting systems for account reconcilement
Internal theft	76% of fraud was initiated internally with an average cost of over $40,000.^{Disclosure 1} Types of fraud:³ Skimming – 9% Cash on hand – 7%	Merchant services⁴	Offers an efficient electronic payment alternative to reduce the amount of cash on hand
	Types of fraud:^{Disclosure 3} Check tampering – 10% Expense reimbursements – 7%	Business debit and credit cards	Provides controlled access to company funds for business expenses Businesses can set transaction and account maximums for control over individual employee spending Enhances control with management tools and reporting
Cyberfraud	19% of small businesses have experienced cyberfraud^{Disclosure 1} 67% of small businesses say they are concerned about cyberfraud, but only 13% of small businesses state that they have cyber insurance^{Disclosure 1}	Crime insurance and/or cyber insurance^{Disclosure 5}	With proper security controls and certain best practices, businesses can look to crime and/or cyber insurance to help fund losses when covered incidents occur^{Disclosure 6}

Let’s fight fraud—together.

Looking for help fighting fraud? Work with your local Truist banker to find ways we can help protect you and your business.

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Fighting fraud—check out the financial tools that can help

Boost your fraud defenses

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Investment and Insurance Products:

Limited English Proficiency Support:

New York City residents:

Borrowers with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) needing information can use the following resources:

Fighting fraud—check out the financial tools that can help

Boost your fraud defenses

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Disclosures

Investment and Insurance Products:

Limited English Proficiency Support:

New York City residents:

Borrowers with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) needing information can use the following resources:

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