06/29/2026
Money Safety Monday Spotlight: Red Flags for Fake Business Dealings
With so many online services these days, it’s hard to know who is a legitimate business and who is wearing sheep’s clothing. Fraudsters may pretend to be working for real businesses, such as Shopify, PayPal, or any other wide variety of companies with strong name recognition. Here are some red flags when dealing with fake businesses:
-Red Flag #1: No matter how you first began talking with them, they move the conversation to WhatsApp or another encrypted messaging system. No good business dealings ever happen this way.
-Red Flag #2: When they provide payment instructions, you notice that payment is directed to someone other than the name of the company or even the person you’ve been talking to. They may offer a simple explanation if questioned, but this unknown name is likely a money mule and is probably another innocent person unknowingly caught in another part of the scheme.
-Red Flag #3: Their email addresses look like they could be from a legit company, but the ending of the email address is , , , etc. A legit business email address would end with the business name, like .com.
When in doubt, talk to us! We are more than happy to look for red flags. It may save you from being the next victim in a fraud case.