What's New At Credit Matters?

Welcome to our April newsletter. The focus this month is another mixed bag of business ideas and inputs.

As so many tradies are going unpaid these days with all the issues that are being incurred, we now have a new section titled Tradies Hints and Notes in our newsletter.

This month’s quote and blog focuses on crime, criminals and how criminality is the incentive for their business models.

The conundrum this month is reviewing why are customers, people in the street, technology tools and cars, all similar?

Our inconvenient truth is, when you use false statistics and evidence, it diminishes you, your business and your subject.

The Special Topic is, seeking help in protecting your IP when you see that it is being used without your authorisation and payment.

There are two Brochures, the first from Enable regarding Crisis in the Workplace. The second is from Waite Partners with business experience in Australia and the US which can assist if you wish to do business in either country.

Kim is available to help with your questions and concerns if you need any assistance, and as always, the first chat is always free of charge or obligation.

Quote Of The Month

“Crooks have an advantage over cops. They lead the chase and police usually have to follow. This means the crooks may be in Africa and the victim in Armadale. Sophisticate crime is now international while police remain local.” By John Silvester in Naked City, The Age 14/9/2024.

Monthly Business Observation

The problem with technology and AI is that anybody can use it and/or buy it. Crooks love technology because they know how effective it is in the right hands. Furthermore, they are prepared to spend the money and time to perfect its use, because crime is their business. In other words, money and time spent are an investment in their business.

The crooks and fraudsters know that they need to only succeed in breaking through the defences of their victims once in one hundred attempts to win. More importantly, they know that their potential victims are usually not prepared to pay the necessary costs to defend themselves.

In the case of other businesses, government organisations and normal people/consumers, it is not their primary business. Consequently, many are looking to spend as little time and money as possible on protecting themselves. This occurs because any money spent is deemed to be a cost rather than an investment. Alternatively, the crooks know many people are so naïve or silly, they don’t consider the consequences of their use of technology and are therefore, easy targets.

For those businesses and people/consumers who understand the risk dynamics in regard to AI and technology. These parties see the potential of increased risk when they refuse to accept cookies, or provide essential information which is claimed to be required, when in fact it doesn’t, etc.

In yet another example, the risk aware do not see the point of using third party payment providers. This is because third party providers and their past reputations were known for not forwarding payments as intended by the senders. Alternatively, the risk aware knew that with every transaction on the internet, there is yet another chance for it be found by a criminal. This explains why customers may ask for their suppliers for their account number so they can avoid using a third party. Alternatively, they pay cash at every opportunity as this minimises the opportunity of their details being found by hackers and criminals.

In summary, technology and AI are a crook’s best friend, and are valued accordingly, for its versatility and ability to help them earn a dollar. They are also aware of how poorly their potential targets act to protect themselves which has been proven time and time again.

It is therefore the responsibility of every business, government organisation and the general public to take precautions and make themselves aware on how to survive in today’s technology and AI focused world.

This Month's Business Inconvenient Truth

Whatever information you use in business today, you had better make sure it is correct, plus have the evidence from reputable sources to support it. If you don’t have this information, and you are proven wrong, the results can be costly to your reputation, business and subject matter. Equally importantly, it can be devastating to your finances and future business and finance opportunities.

One good example is not promptly attending to, and processing credit claims. There are always situations where business owners, marketing and sales managers will not authorise the prompt processing of credit claims to protect their sales figures. The end result is that customers delay payments, reconciling of customer accounts becomes more difficult, and eventually, the invalid credit claims have to be followed up. The valid claims on the other hand have to processed anyway, and as per Murphy’s Law, that usually happens at the wrong time for your business and causes further negative issues.

More damaging still, customers and employees can commit fraud and hide their actions for extended periods of time. This then causes further costs to identify what has happened, who committed the frauds and why these frauds were allowed to happen. Then to add insult to injury, most businesses will not seek redress from the fraud perpetrators because it is too embarrassing and/or deemed too costly to take action.

If you think that the above information is extreme, remember we are in for some really difficult times in the future. In tough times, we also know professionals from the world of criminality advise that “… in bad times, people steal to survive.”

There are many other examples where false and misleading information has led to unforeseen and negative problems. I will however leave these for another newsletter or blog.

At the end of the day, there are no secrets any more. If you are you are going to use false or misleading information, you will be found out. This happens especially when you give people a reason to question the validity of your information and its source.