Extortionists have been changing their methods of deception, and have even gone so far as to alter the information of legitimate businesses in internet search engines, warned Karen Rivas, president of the Young Entrepreneurs Council (CEJ).
“Extortion is practically a daily occurrence, the typical calls to extort money from businesses. We always tell them that if anything happens, they should report it. (…) There’s also an initiative from the Chamber of Commerce (Canaco) inviting us to join this program so that together we can prevent extortion at all costs,” she said.
And indeed, there have been scams that represent a significant blow to entrepreneurs and small businesses.
“Yes. In recent months, we haven’t received any reports, but we have had reports of people who deposited money and were robbed of amounts up to 20,000 pesos. It depends on the business and the type of extortion, but it ranges from 5,000 to 20,000 pesos.”
“It represents a huge amount. Imagine a micro-business that might be living hand to mouth, relying on sales to pay rent, payroll, insurance, and taxes. Well, wow, a loss like this can really affect a small business, someone who can’t sustain it,” he stated.
And while prevention efforts have been strengthened, the methods of deception are becoming increasingly sophisticated. “They have many different ways of operating. They’re very creative because they keep coming up with stranger things. A few months ago, a member of the Council told us that his company’s Google page was hacked. When you search for it on Google, the company name and phone number that appear were replaced with the extortionist’s number. Then people would call to request quotes, this criminal group would send them the quote, and they would deposit the money into a card belonging to the extortionists.”
“They didn’t realize it until a customer told them, but by then the number had probably been changed for two weeks. So they’re very creative, and sometimes you can’t even imagine how they’re going to get to you,” he warned.
Source: elsiglodedurango
