
Payment Scams
If your business knows how to buy online safely, it can help you to pay with confidence and avoid scams.
Check before you buy
Fraudsters pretend to be genuine sellers using online marketplaces and social media to trade. They can even get in touch with your firm to offer great deals.
If a seller’s prices are a lower than others, it could be a scam.
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Take your time to check seller reviews to make sure they’re genuine. Lots of good reviews from different buyers are better than mixed, bad or no reviews at all.
Also ask questions before you buy. If a seller can't give any details about an item or tries to hurry your firm into paying, it could be a scam.
Look at how long a seller has been trading online. If their profile is brand new, it’s worth doing extra checks to make sure they’re genuine.
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Choose a safe way to pay
To buy goods online, use your business debit or credit card. This will protect the money should anything go wrong.
Fraudsters often want you to pay by direct bank or wire transfer. These are hard to trace and if it turns out to be a scam, it’s very hard to get the money back.
Paying up front
If an item is large and expensive, only agree to pay for it when a seller hands it over.
Fraudsters can ask you to pay in full or for a large deposit before you’ve seen an item. Once they have your money, they'll disappear.
Try to get some proof that the seller is genuine and the item exists before you pay.
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Lloyds Bank will never ask you to:
- Share account details like user ID, password and memorable information.
- Tell us the security number for Telephone Banking.
- Tell us the PIN code or expiry date of your business bank card.
- Move money to another account