In the week that the Yorkshire Building Society dispensed fake £20 notes from a cash machine in Lancaster, we look further into the murky world of counterfeit money.

The notes were clearly fake, called Twenty Poonds and with “This note is play money” written on them.  But how often do we look that closely at the cash we receive from ATMs?  The Yorkshire Bank are laying responsibility on their third party supplier, not staff within the bank and are offering no-quibble exchanges for real money for anyone receiving the toy money.

How to get fake money

It is remarkably easy to get hold of this counterfeit money.  A search on Google comes up with many eBay offers of this money, all openly describing the ‘money’ as ‘prop’, ‘joke’ or ‘party’ money.  For £10 real money you can buy 10 fake £20 notes – or 100 £50 notes, helpfully described as looking “like a full stack from both sides”.

How to spot fake money

When you know what you are looking for, it becomes relatively easy to spot money that in’t real.  The physical feel is different.  Check also for the silver strip that runs all the way through the real notes – just hold up to a light to check.  Shining an ultraviolet light on the top of the real note shows a harlequin hat, not seen on fakes. 

What happens to the counterfeiters

Punishment for passing off fake money is most definitely real.  Earlier this year in Northern Ireland, a gang who had produced £1m of counterfeit money were sent to prison for up to 18 months. 

What to do if your shop is scammed

The Bank of England has issued guidance for retailers, including free training materials from their website.  The new polymer, plastic notes are much more difficult to forge – for now, at least!

Colleagues – dontcha just love them!  Except, that is, when they get on your nerves.  We’ve uncovered some guidance on using the emotionally intelligent response for coping with colleagues.  How many of these do you recognise?

The Egomaniac

You will know this type, who always hogs the limelight and never gives any credit for anything to anyone else.  They basically put others down to make themselves feel better. 

Telling they are wrong won’t prevent their behaviour repeating in the future.  The psychologically smart way to handle them is to positively reward their good behaviour, rather than criticise their annoying traits.

The Gossip

When gossip develops into rumours and dramas, it creates negativity, and raises suspicions about other co-workers. 

The recommended coping strategy is to challenge the accuracy of any gossip, asking for verification – ‘how do you know that? – or just leave the conversation.

The Eternal Pessimist

Everything is doom and gloom, spreading negativity across the whole work place.  Often, the pessimist is just wanting to be heard.

Acknowledging their feelings may help them.  You don’t have to agree with them, but saying ‘if I were you, I may feel the same way’ may help – or try asking them if they have thought of a solution to the problem they are complaining about.

The Lazy Incompetent

Everyone has come across this one – we don’t need to describe this co-worker!

The emotionally intelligent response is to understand their motivations, and work on those.  Someone who values autonomy and freedom won’t respond well to being told to do something by a deadline.  They may, however, respond better to a challenge – ‘that’s a very tight deadline, I bet no-one thinks we could hit it’…

The Bully

The boss who abuses their position of power and treats their workers with disrespect; or those who seek to humiliate others, we’ve all seen this in action.

Typically the bully is looking for a reaction – so the smart response is to not give them one, making them more likely to stop.  If they don’t, collect evidence to prove your case to HR or more senior staff.

And we’d love to hear your strategies for coping with colleagues… let us know on our Facebook page here.

Our last blog looked at the pro’s of adopting an environmentally sensitive approach – this week, we look at why business should not go green.

Costs

It can be expensive to switch your source of energy – for example, the initial capital costs of installing solar panels or a wind turbine can be high and it may takes years to achieve overall cost savings.

Increased procurement costs

Sustainable raw materials are likely to be more expensive.  These costs will be passed onto your customers resulting in an increased price for your products, which may make them less competitive and thereby damage your profitability and sales.

Paperless Data Risks

We often discuss the risks associated with digital data.  By going completely paperless and 100% reliant on digital documents, there is an increased risk of damage to your information, either by fraud or error – back-ups become business critical.

False Claims

It’s all very well claiming to be environmentally friendly – but what happens to your reputation if something comes to light which directly impacts on your environmental credentials?  Would discovering your t-shirts are made in a sweatshop where workers are paid tiny amounts per hour damage your green claims?

The Triple Bottom Line

The arguments on why business should not go green, or should, boil down to what is essentially the corporate social responsibility question, that business is not just about profit, but people and the planet too – the triple bottom line.  Often, the interests of profit conflict with those of people and planet.

Inevitably, there is a balance to be struck between ensuring your business is financially sustainable, and that you are doing what you can to protect the environment.  Any social responsibility comes at a cost, and only you can decide what an environmentally sensitive position is worth.  At the end of the day, it’s possibly just a question of wanting to go green – which means it’s all about leadership…

It’s back to school – but are your children as cyber-security aware as they need to be?  We often cover issues around the risks that businesses face from cyber fraud – here we look at ways to keep your children cyber secure … 

Privacy Basics

It’s not just adults who can have their identity stolen.  Disclosing personal data is a big risk, so inadvertently showing your address should be avoided, on bits of paper lying around in photos, or even pics taken outside the house.

Playing the right games…

Do you know what games your children are playing online?  Take Fortnite as an example – some schools have written to parents warning them about this game in particular, which can make children “aggressive and violent”.  If you have no idea what Fortnite is, here are 7 things as a parent you need to know!

Reputation management

This isn’t just for businesses – and it may be too much to expect your child to manage their own online reputation themselves.  We all Google ourselves – don’t we??  But have you ever Googled your child?  This article gives some very useful tips on how to help protect your child without wrapping them in cotton wool.

Password protocols

Teaching children the correct way to use passwords is an essential part of them being safe online.  It doesn’t have to be hard work, as suggested here – the longer the password, the safer it is, so work on encouraging paraphrases as passwords.

360 degree security

Are all of your devices covered by malware software?  Cyber fraudsters don’t differentiate between businesses and individuals, and will have no compunction about whether the device is owned by a child or an adult.  If you take protecting your work devices, then you should check that any Internet of Things gadget in your household is similarly protected, in order to fully keep your children cyber secure.

Fraud is so common now – here we look at the main categories, and what you can do to help keep your systems safe and protect from fraud.

Fraud is becoming more widespread, with an estimated 3.6 million fraud cases in 2018 – yet only 276,000 cases were reported to the police.  The estimates show a 12 % increase year on year.

There are 4 main categories for fraud:

• Online shopping, and online auction fraud was the most reported category
• Advance fee fraud is where you are asked to pay upfront and never receive what you’ve paid for
• Computer fixing fraud is most common in Norfolk, nearly double the national average.  What does this say about Norfolk people!
• Cheque, plastic card and online bank fraud is the fourth most popular category.

Increasingly popular is identity fraud, rising fastest for victims who are over 60 and under 21.  The two most likely sources of information to enable a fraudster to use your identity are the internet, and the individual themselves. 

Latest scams that are reported in large numbers include:

• Spoof HMRC phone calls, threatening prosecution because of apparently unpaid tax.  Where there is any unpaid tax, HMRC will initially make contact by letter.
• Talk Talk refunds, with a link to a malicious website
• TV Licensing scam, asking for you to update your bank records to avoid prosecution.  Over 900 cases have been reported with losses to individuals totalling £830,000.
• BT scam offering enhanced security, where you are asked to let a technician log into your computer, which they then take control of, and ask you to log into your bank account.

How to protect from fraud

As more services are online, ensuring your computer is secure is ever more critical.  The police Action Fraud website contains useful information on how to protect yourselves, including the free cybercrime protection service Quad9 and DMARC. 

Quad9 is a free security solution which acts to protect your system against the most common cyber threats, and also improving your system performance and enhancing your privacy.  DMARC is designed to protect your business from email fraud.

The Global Cyber Alliance has developed a CyberSecurity Toolkit specifically designed for small and medium sized businesses.  It offers actionable guidance and tools with clear directions to protect your business from cyber attacks.  If your business isn’t protected – it’s time to act now.