Keeping your customers safe from malicious activity is an important responsibility of any business. In today’s digital age, an increase of scammers rises using sophisticated tactics to steal money and other assets from unsuspecting customers.
Your business should make sure your customers know that they are hearing from the real you and not a scammer or spoof account pretending to be you. Here are some tips to help your customers recognize that the email, phone interaction, or social media account they are interacting with is a legitimate representation of your brand.
Firstly, be sure that if you do communicate by telephone, your business’s name shows on the caller ID clearly and that you’re calling from a telephone number that is clearly stated on your website and all other correspondence. Train your employees to always state their name, title, and your company’s name when making calls to customers. Additionally, if your business does not call customers unless they have called you first, be sure that your customers are well aware of that fact.
Branding is a key player in keeping your business authentic online. However, be aware that it’s easy to steal your images, content, logo, and other information because anything you publish online, can be downloaded, even if you use a copywrite protection application, there is a way it can be swiped. Be certain that your business is quickly recognizable. This includes using the same logo, tone of voice, color scheme, and other elements throughout any communication with customers, online and offline. Additionally, including links back to your website in emails or social media posts helps further authenticate the message you’re sending, and leads the reader to your official website.
One way to protect your customers against fake emails or social media accounts is to clearly communicate who they should expect contact from when dealing with your company. Make it easy to contact customer service directly rather than a generic support email address. This allows customers to connect with a real person and verify any issues they may have before responding accordingly. Additionally, having customer service phone numbers readily available makes it easier for people to ask questions and get detailed answers that could only come from an actual representative of the business in question rather than by reading information on a website or blog post that could have been created by somebody other than an employee of the company. You can also provide customer support through secure channels such as live chat on your website, which will help customers double-check their identities without worrying about the potential risk of unencrypted data transmission.
Another way to reduce the chances of customers being duped by malicious accounts is to consider making use of 2FA (two-factor authentication) for all interactions with customers; this requires a user first enter their credentials into an app or website before being granted access, thus providing an extra layer of security against hackers posing as legitimate users on behalf of businesses like yours.
You can also educate your customers, social media followers, and your employees, about best practices when it comes to verifying who they’re speaking with online. This could involve sending out newsletters containing advice on how they can spot telltale signs of malicious activity such as phishing websites or requests for personal information over email/social media platforms where no prior contact has been established. Show them ways to identify a fake email account, an unauthorized social media account, and ensure that they have the proper website URL for your business on hand.
Your businesses should be aware of how their online presence looks overall in order for customers to be able to trust them when engaging with them online. Take time to monitor how your brand appears on search engine results pages (SERPs), especially those related to trustworthiness such as reviews and customer testimonials. Having up-to-date contact information listed on websites, directories, and review sites will also help establish legitimacy so potential customers don’t think they’re dealing with someone else trying to appear like your business online.
Overall keeping up with all these various measures will ensure that customers know they’re hearing from you specifically instead of someone pretending to be you online using phony accounts or messages which could lead to confusion and mistrust between the customer and your brand. Online safety is a process and is everchanging with the evolution of new technologies and applications, but by following these steps, you’ll help ensure that all interactions involving your business are conducted in a secure manner and keep everyone involved safe from internet scams in the process!