The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is putting a price tag on fraud with 20% of small businesses taken in by scammers.
Those that were conned lost, on average, $6,200 in the last year.
Small businesses spent an average of $2,900 over the last year on fraud prevention.
More than half of business owners who were taken in say the stress and hassle are worse than the financial losses, citing lost time, stress and a negative impact on staff morale.
Fraudulent payments are by far the most common fraud as well as paying for goods and services never delivered.
