We so often hear about elderly people getting scammed that it might be easy to forget that just about anyone can become a victim of a scam. In this case, it is small businesses that need to think twice when they are contacted my some agency claiming to be some kind of government agency.

One recent scam involves sending notices out to restaurants and convenience stores advising them that the law required them to display proper hand-washing posters in their place of business or risk paying heavy fines. Conveniently enough, those who were sending these notices out were also offering the required posters for sale.

This is the type of thing that should raise red flags and set alarm bells ringing. Attempting to instill fear in their victims is a tried-and-true tactic used by scam artists and they are continually coming up with new ways to use fear as an effective weapon against potential victims.

Scam artists are often able to produce very convincing and official-looking documents or e-mail messages to lend credibility to their efforts. If they can make it appear that they are associated with a government agency and are making threats about heavy fines or closing businesses down, they increase the chances that their intended victim will comply.

Good judgment can be easily clouded by strong emotional reactions from people who think their livelihood is being threatened.

To read more about this scam that targets small businesses, you can access this article.

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