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6 Common Scams Entrepreneurs Should Avoid

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There are too many threats for small businesses right now. Read on to learn about the 6 most common scans that entrepreneurs should watch out for!

Many people think about starting their own business without actually assessing all the existing risks. It’s bad enough that the competition has never been higher for small companies. There are also many threats that young entrepreneurs face, like liability issues, inflation, physical and intellectual theft, security breaches, and so on. You can add different scams to the list as well!

It’s no surprise that people have been running scams on small businesses for years. New entrepreneurs are trusting, and they also want to please every customer to have a loyal client base. These factors can turn small companies into perfect targets for rip-offs and cons. In the last couple of years, there are also many online threats that come from the internet.

Managing your company, getting a diploma, and looking out for possible scams at the same time can be pretty challenging. This is why students often delegate their assignments to online services. You can use essay service and devote more time to your startup. Business owners constantly have to be aware of all emerging issues!

So, are you not sure that you can prevent any kind of threats from harming your company? Here are the 6 most common scams young entrepreneurs should avoid!

Insurance fraud

This is one of the oldest tricks in the book. This type of rip-off is not specific to entrepreneurship because any person can become a victim of an insurance fraud activity. For example, you own a small store, and a swindler targets your space for their illegal activity. They will fall down and pretend to suffer from minor injuries, threatening to sue you if you don’t pay.

Fake invoices for office supplies

This is a pretty popular illegal scheme that people use to get money out of your business. Usually, they target bigger companies because it’s harder to keep track of all small purchases and invoices when you have lots of employees. Here are a couple of the most popular fake invoice schemes that you should watch out for:

  • The grifter will reach out to you and remind you that it’s about time to restock your office supplies, like paper or printer toners. After that, you’ll receive an invoice for overpriced products or an order from a fake company.
  • The scammer will send some supplies to you without any order and demand payment for it, usually overpriced as well. The harassment won’t stop until entrepreneurs agree to pay the invoice.

Fake online reviews

This is one of the most obvious and easiest ways to extort money from a company, so entrepreneurs better watch out! For example, students often look for “Write my dissertation for me“. People will say that they will leave a negative review online unless they are paid. They might also demand some goods or services in exchange for a positive review. 

Phishing schemes

This is an online threat that should be part of your cybersecurity training. Usually, employees or young entrepreneurs get an email from what seems to be a legitimate sender. If you open a link from an email, you can lose your back data, personal information, credit cards, passwords, and other important stuff. Don’t open anything before confirming that this link is legit!

Fake business and investment opportunities

Of course, everybody wants to get rich quickly. Business owners will look for many investment prospects that can promote their services even more! For example, one of the most popular schemes in this field is coaching and promotion swindles. People will lure entrepreneurs with some promises of increased profits and morality boosters, only to scam them for money.

Government agency imposters

This experience can be scary for those business owners who are not familiar with this type of swindle. When somebody from the IRS or Homeland Security comes knocking on your door, you are more likely to cooperate with them. They can claim that you have some unpaid fines or owed taxes. This is no joke, especially when you have some trademarks or patents!

How can you protect your company from getting scammed?

Of course, you can’t protect yourself and your workers at all times. On the other hand, there are some guidelines that business owners can follow and stay alert for in the future! Here are a couple of tips about looking out for the most popular cons and protecting your company:

  • learn about cybersecurity and hire an expert team to deal with such threats;
  • verify all purchases and invoices;
  • have a list of checked vendors that you use regularly;
  • hold security training for your employees.

Takeaway

Now you know about the 6 most common scams that entrepreneurs have to deal with! There are hundreds of different ways of stealing money from companies, so you can’t really look out for each and every one of them. At the same time, business owners can take some steps to prevent any cons from happening in the future!

Todayville Content Team works with a wide variety of clients to develop compelling content solutions. Our experienced team develops strategic campaigns that use video and storytelling, digital advertising and social media to help our clients position and distinguish themselves in the market.

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The bizarre story of Taro Tsujimoto

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The National Hockey League (NHL) has seen its fair share of strange moments, but few compare to the bizarre and hilarious tale of Taro Tsujimoto, a player who never existed. His “selection” in the 1974 NHL Draft remains one of the most legendary pranks in hockey history. If you want to wager on actual players, making the 1xBet app download is definitely a great idea.

In the 1970s, the NHL Draft was a much less glamorous event than today. It was a tedious process conducted over the phone, with teams calling in their picks. The 3 biggest highlights of what happened during that year’s draft were:

  • the draft dragged on for hours;
  • there were multiple rounds and teams selecting unknown prospects from obscure leagues;
  • frustrated with the monotony, Buffalo Sabres general manager Punch Imlach decided to have a little fun.

As the 11th round approached, Imlach instructed his team’s representative to draft Taro Tsujimoto, a supposed forward from the Tokyo Katanas of the Japan Ice Hockey League. The name sounded authentic enough. The league officials, unfamiliar with Japanese hockey, accepted the pick without question. By downloading the 1xBet app you will also be able to wager on great NHL teams too.

A small problem

There was a small problem with all of this, as 2 things didn’t exist: Tsujimoto and the Tokyo Katanas. Imlach had completely fabricated the player as a joke, taking advantage of the NHL’s lack of verification. When it comes to NHL wagers, there is no better platform than the 1xBet Canada site.

For weeks, the league listed Tsujimoto as an official draft pick, and even some newspapers reported on Buffalo’s mysterious new Japanese prospect. Eventually, the Sabres admitted the hoax, and the NHL was forced to retroactively erase the selection from its records.

Despite being a fictional player, Taro Tsujimoto took on a life of his own. Buffalo Sabres fans embraced the prank, and over the years, his name has become a cult legend in hockey culture. Some fans even wore jerseys with “Tsujimoto” on the back. The joke persisted so much that when EA Sports released NHL video games, players could occasionally find Tsujimoto in the game’s draft pool as a hidden Easter egg.

More than just a prank, the story of Taro Tsujimoto highlights 2 things: the quirks of old-school sports management and the creativity of one of hockey’s most colorful executives. Today, with the draft process being highly scrutinized and broadcast live, such a prank would be impossible. But Tsujimoto’s legacy lives on as one of hockey’s greatest inside jokes. What is not a joke are the great rewards that a platform like the Canadian 1xBet site can give you.

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60% of Canadians gamble each month – why the industry is going from strength to strength

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When it comes to regulating gambling, Canada has a somewhat relaxed approach. The Canadian Gaming Association oversees the industry, but it’s up to individual provinces to enact and enforce any laws relating to online casino gaming, sports betting, traditional casino gaming, and other forms of gambling.

Canada’s online casino gaming laws are not totally clear, but individual provinces are starting to put this right. Ontario was the first and did so when it launched its own regulated igaming market in April 2022. Now some other provinces have followed suit, creating a safer igaming environment for players in those provinces. Below is a look at gambling in Canada compared to other parts of the world, at gaming laws in Alberta compared to other provinces, and at the future of the Canadian, US, and UK gambling industries.

Canada: a forever love of gambling

Gambling in some form or other has always been popular in Canada. Way back in the 1990s, research found six in ten Canadians (60%) gambled every month. Additionally, four in ten (43%) spent between 1 and 20 Canadian dollars on gambling. Fast forward to today and the Canadian gambling market is worth 14.2 billion US dollars as of January 2024, according to data on the website of consumer and market data company Statista.

It seems Canada enjoys wagering just as much as two other countries that love a gamble: the US and the UK. Data on the Statista website shows that 49% of US adults took part in gambling activities in 2023. Fifty-six percent said their attitude towards gambling had relaxed, compared to the 50% of 2019.

The UK returned similar stats for the same year. Forty-eight percent of adults reported engaging in gambling activity. Online casinos generated the most gross gambling yield in 2023, but it was the nation’s National Lottery that people played the most.

 

Alberta: following Ontario’s lead

The regulatory developments in Ontario have triggered movement in Alberta. In May 2024, Bill 16, the Red Tape Reduction Amendment Act, made it through the process and later received Royal Assent to become law. The act removes the monopoly of gaming by a single government entity and will allow private operators, licensed by Alberta’s provincial regulator, to provide online gaming services in Alberta, meaning players will have a choice of more than one Alberta online casino to play at.

The regulation transforms Alberta into one of the more liberal provinces when it comes to online gambling, others being Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia.

Several provinces, such as Novia Scotia and Northwest Territories, have no provincially regulated online gaming sites. Some also restrict betting on horse racing and/or other types of sports betting, obliging citizens to use international betting sites for freedom from caps and betting on as many events as they wish.

What lies ahead for the Canadian, US, and UK gambling industries?

Canada’s appetite for gambling is clear, and the industry’s online sector is beginning to thrive. Ontario has enjoyed vast success by creating its own regulated market, one which, in just its first year, saw Canadians place billions in wagers and the industry itself generate more than a billion in total gaming revenue.

Canada can expect to see other provinces follow Ontario’s lead and allow private operators to provide services in the province under license. The purpose of the regulation is player protection. Any province that develops a regulated market will focus on this, so there will also be regulations around the advertising of gambling services.

The US

Gambling online is the future for the US, too, although states are slow to legalize it. As of September 2024, 38 states had legalized sports betting, following the US Supreme Court’s ruling that states could regulate sports gambling directly.

Despite allowing sports betting, some states only permit in-person betting, and only a few states allow online casino gaming. Operators believe online casino gaming is the future of gambling.

The UK

In the UK, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) will get bigger and bigger. Companies have realized AI can enhance players’ experience and are embracing it more and more. For instance, sports betting websites can use it to crunch data and provide iGamers with stats and other data to make better betting decisions. They’re also understanding they can use AI to prioritize content players are likely to be interested in and to personalize their offerings and services to players’ preferences.

Canada enjoys gambling as much as America and the UK. Although laws around igaming are more of a grey area in Canada, some provinces are clearing the issue up by creating regulated markets and experiencing great success. As time goes by, more are sure to follow.

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