Small business fraud takes several forms, from fake invoices and impostor calls to losses caused by employees inside an organization. A March 2018 BBB survey found that 63% of surveyed small businesses had been exposed to at least one scam type during the prior three years, while ACFE’s 2024 study found a $141,000 median occupational-fraud loss for organizations with fewer than 100 employees. The figures measure different problems and periods, so they should not be combined into one overall fraud rate.
Table of contents
- How often small businesses report being targeted
- The dollar cost of small business scams
- Which scams are riskiest
- How scammers reach businesses and collect payments
- Tactics used in harmful scams
- Occupational fraud benchmarks
How often small businesses report being targeted
The BBB survey measured small-business experiences during the three years ending in March 2018. It found that 67% of surveyed small businesses believed the risk of scammers targeting businesses was greater than it had been three years earlier. In the same survey, 63% said they had been exposed to at least one type of scam during the prior three years. These are survey responses, not a current national estimate, and the measurement period ended in 2018. BBB, Scams and Your Small Business: Learn, Protect, and Report
Exposure did not always result in reported harm. Thirteen percent of surveyed small businesses said a scam had harmed them by causing money or information loss during those three years. Among surveyed businesses that reported harm, 80% said they lost money and 19% said they lost information. Other reported consequences included a compromised reputation for 11% and decreased customer trust for 5%.
The survey also reported different shares by business size. The share saying their business had ever been scammed was 11% among businesses with 0–5 employees, 17% among those with 6–10 employees, and 17% among those with 11–99 employees. These size-group figures describe the survey’s reported experience and should not be interpreted as proof that employee count alone causes fraud risk.
The dollar cost of small business scams
BBB estimated that about 6% of small businesses lose money to scams in a typical year. For a small business that was harmed, the estimated median annual scam loss was $800, while the estimated average annual loss was $4,373. The gap between the median and average matters: the average is pulled upward by businesses with larger losses, while the median represents the midpoint of the estimated harmed-business distribution.
BBB estimated total annual small-business scam losses at more than $7 billion. That estimate excluded the value of time, reputational damage, and customer-trust costs, so it did not represent every consequence of a scam. It was an annual estimate based on the March 2018 survey rather than a measurement of losses in 2026. BBB, Scams and Your Small Business: Learn, Protect, and Report
The reported figures show why a business can be affected even when a single incident appears relatively small. A $500 or $800 payment may be material for a small operation, and the survey separately identified information loss, reputation damage, and reduced customer trust. Those effects were not converted into dollar values in the BBB estimate.
Which scams are riskiest for small businesses
The BBB survey used exposure, susceptibility, and median loss as separate measures. Exposure describes the share encountering a scam type; susceptibility describes the share that fell for it according to the survey; and median loss describes the middle reported loss for that scam category. The following compact comparison keeps those measures distinct.
| Scam type | Exposure | Susceptibility | Median loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Directory-listing and advertising | 32% | 9% | $500 |
| Tech support | 30% | 7% | $400 |
| Fake invoice or supplier bill | 21% | 10% | $500 |
| Bank or credit-card-company imposter | 18% | 8% | $1,400 |
| Social engineering or phishing | 16% | 5% | $500 |
| Fake check | 15% | 10% | $675 |
| Charity | 13% | 8% | $300 |
Directory-listing and advertising scams had the highest exposure in the listed categories, at 32%, followed by tech-support scams at 30%. Fake-invoice or supplier-bill scams had 21% exposure, while bank or credit-card-company imposters had 18% exposure. Fake-check scams had 15% exposure, social-engineering or phishing scams had 16%, and charity scams had 13%.
Susceptibility was 10% for fake-invoice or supplier-bill scams and 10% for fake-check scams. Directory-listing and advertising scams had 9% susceptibility, while bank or credit-card-company imposters and charity scams each had 8%. Tech-support scams had 7% susceptibility, and social-engineering or phishing scams had 5%.
The largest listed median loss was associated with bank or credit-card-company imposters, at $1,400. Fake-check scams had a $675 median loss. Directory-listing and advertising scams, fake-invoice or supplier-bill scams, and social-engineering or phishing scams each had a $500 median loss. Tech-support scams had a $400 median loss, while charity scams had a $300 median loss. All of these figures refer to the BBB survey period ending in March 2018. BBB, Scams and Your Small Business
How scammers reach businesses and collect payments
Among harmful small-business scams reported in the BBB survey, phone calls were the contact method in 57% of cases and email was reported in 50%. In-person contact appeared in 24% of harmful scams, while postal mail appeared in 15%. The categories can overlap because one incident may involve more than one contact method.
The payment methods also show why verification matters before money leaves the business. Prepaid cards were used in 33% of harmful scams, and wire transfers were used in 30%. Cash was the payment method in 14% of reported harmful scams. Online payment systems such as PayPal were used in 7%.
These percentages describe harmful scams reported by survey respondents during the prior three years ending in March 2018. They do not establish that a particular payment method is unsafe in every legitimate transaction, and they do not provide a current ranking of payment fraud. BBB, Scams and Your Small Business
Tactics used in harmful small business scams
Impersonation was the most frequently reported tactic among surveyed small businesses harmed by a scam: 53% said the scammer pretended to be someone the business trusted. A sense of urgency was nearly as common, reported by 49%. Together, these figures describe pressure patterns in the reported incidents, not the prevalence of every scam attempt received by every business.
Thirty-two percent of surveyed businesses harmed by a scam said the incident slipped through normal business processes undetected. That finding is distinct from a simple employee mistake: it indicates that the respondent viewed the scam as bypassing ordinary procedures. Nineteen percent said the scammer used intimidation or fear, and 17% said the scammer enticed them with promises of amazing deals.
The five reported tactics were:
- Pretending to be someone trusted: 53%.
- Creating a sense of urgency: 49%.
- Slipping through normal business processes undetected: 32%.
- Using intimidation or fear: 19%.
- Promising amazing deals: 17%.
The figures come from the BBB survey’s harmful-scam respondents and cover the prior three years ending in March 2018. BBB, Scams and Your Small Business
Occupational fraud benchmarks for small organizations
External scams are only one part of the risk picture. ACFE’s Occupational Fraud 2024: A Report to the Nations examined cases investigated from January 2022 through September 2023 and published the report in 2024. Organizations with fewer than 100 employees represented 21% of the occupational-fraud cases in that study. Their median occupational-fraud loss was $141,000.
Across all organizations in ACFE’s study, the median loss per occupational-fraud case was $145,000. The 75th-percentile loss was $750,000, and 22% of cases caused losses of at least $1 million. These are case-based benchmarks, not an estimate that every small business will lose the median amount.
ACFE estimated that organizations lose 5% of revenue to occupational fraud each year. The estimate applies to organizations generally in the report and should not be presented as a small-business-specific loss rate. The typical occupational-fraud case lasted 12 months before detection.
Detection data points to the value of internal reporting channels. Tips were the initial detection method in 43% of occupational-fraud cases. Employees supplied 52% of the tips that initially detected occupational fraud. In addition, 84% of occupational-fraud perpetrators displayed at least one behavioral red flag. The report’s case period was January 2022 through September 2023, and its findings are not directly comparable with the BBB’s March 2018 small-business scam survey. ACFE, Occupational Fraud 2024: A Report to the Nations
The two research sources therefore answer different questions. BBB measured reported exposure to external scams, the consequences of harmful incidents, and the channels used to contact businesses during a period ending in March 2018. ACFE analyzed investigated occupational-fraud cases from 2022–2023 and reported case losses, detection methods, and perpetrator indicators. Keeping those scopes separate is essential when using small business fraud statistics to assess risk.