Reduce hassles with this Year-EHave you ever fallen prey to a small business scam? If not, consider yourself lucky: There are plenty of con artists working to separate business owners from their money, especially small business owners, who likely do not have the time and money to provide every last accounting check and balance that larger companies do. Here are some of the most common frauds to watch out for.

Fake invoice scams- Con artists know that small businesses deal with lots of vendors and service providers- and they can take advantage of that knowledge by sending you an invoice or renewal notice for a realistic- sounding service that you never received to begin with. Typically such invoices arrive for phantom office supplies or, more notoriously, online directory listings. In a recent case, one scam artist duped over 25,000 businesses into paying him $7 million for services they never received. To avoid falling prey to such a con, keep scrupulous records of all your purchases and subscriptions so you'll know when something doesn't match up.

Overpayment scams- If you're selling products, be wary if the purchaser gives you a check or makes a credit card charge for more than the amount due. In this type of con, he or she will ask for a refund for the amount that's been overpaid- before you catch onto the fact that the check bounced or the credit card is stolen. The FTC offers for avoiding such scenarios, which include verifying the buyer's address and contact details, and avoiding accepting checks for more than the purchase price.

Better Business Bureau scam- Recently, an email that claims to be from the Better Business Bureau has been making the rounds, with the headline "Complaint from your customer." Open the email, and you'll be directed to open a link to see the complaint. Don't do it: The link contains malware that will steal your company's data. The real BBB has sent out an alert regarding this scam, with information about how to protect your information and how to identify whether a BBB email is genuine. 

Domain name scams- Have you ever received an email from someone claiming to be a domain registration center, claiming that another company has applied for a domain name that infringes on your trademark? This is a common ploy to get business owners to pay for domain names that they don't need- the "other company" does't exist. If someone sends you an email that resembles the examples shown here, don't take the bait. 

Kathyrn Hawkins- www.blog.intuit.com/money