Have you fallen (or nearly fallen) for a scam aimed at your business? How can these be spotted and avoided?

Yes, the Tory party! They can be spotted in the Commons bar or at the office of Shell and BP.

When a deal seems too good to be true, it often is. I had a customer contact me because he wanted to buy a custom gift for his wife, could I create one for him? The sky was the limit in terms of budget and he completely trusted my vision and expertise. His wife was a huge fan of my work, he claimed.
First red flag: money is no object. Unless you sell luxury items, your customers will have a budget in mind (even if it's a loving husband who wants to treat his wife).
Second red flag: if his wife is a huge fan, how come she's never placed an order or interacted with me on social media?
My gut feeling prevented me from accepting this commission, and later I learned this is a common scam - the next step is to ask one to use a special courier and add the total to the invoice, but once you've paid the "special shipping" you learn the company doesn't exist. You're then out of money and in possession of a custom order you can't sell. Devious, and particularly mean to small businesses...

The property sector is facing a significant yet often overlooked threat: cyber scams targeting transfers of large sums, often involving completion funds for property transactions or tenant deposits. These scams put both consumers and businesses at financial and reputational risk. Fraudsters cunningly insert themselves into a transaction, deceiving end users into transferring money to false accounts. The victims often have little financial cushion, making the impact devastating.

To mitigate this, companies have adopted rigorous security measures. This includes confirming bank details via secure, multi-step verification processes that involve both digital communication and voice confirmation. While cumbersome, these protocols are necessary to shield against fraudulent interference that could lead to substantial losses.

The stakes are incredibly high, not just in monetary terms but also in the erosion of trust that can have a long-lasting impact on the industry.

I'm sure every business owner has been approached to advertise in some dubious, expensive marketing or publication that's generally money for old rope with little return on investment and may not even exist. These now go straight into spam.