As an entrepreneur, you pride yourself on knowing when people are lying and yet being.
As an entrepreneur, you pride yourself on knowing when people are lying and yet being able to turn on the charm even with people you do not trust. In the world of business, where everyone and everything is at least somewhat fake, finding out that you have been the target of fraud hurts just as much as a betrayal of trust between friends. It is not that you expected the other party to be honest with you, but rather that you fear the loss of your reputation if your customers and competitors find out that you fell for a scam. How easy it is to recover from fraud, whether financially or in terms of resuming business operations, depends on how the fraud happened and whether the fraudsters had promised in writing not to do what they did. Fraud can happen to businesses from any direction, whether it is dishonest employees or bad faith business partnerships. For help moving forward after finding out that your business has been a target of fraud, contact a Tempe business law attorney.
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What Happens if You Find Out That a Business Agreement You Signed Was Based on False Premises?
Sometimes, people do not show their true colors until after you have signed a business agreement with them. No matter how the problems arise, if the agreement is already in place when you find out that the other party has been lying to you, you should rely on the contract to guide you in your dispute resolution procedures. Not all breach of contract disputes have to do with fraud, but contract law is applicable when you find out that a party to a contract has defrauded you. These are some possible scenarios where you might discover that someone has defrauded you after you signed a contract with them:
- A company signed an agreement with you, promising to act as an intermediary to connect you to clients or collaborators, but later, you find out that they do not have the connections that they claimed to have.
- An employee or business partner has shared confidential information about your business venture with competitors or otherwise used it to compete with you.
- The landlord of a building where you have signed a lease lied to you about the condition of the building, and you did not find out until after you started paying rent and conducting business operations from the rented space.
Data Breaches are Devastating for Businesses and Customers
Data breaches are among the most disruptive and financially devastating types of fraud that can happen to a business. If scammers can get the password to one employee’s computer or email account, they may be able to access the identifying information and bank account numbers or credit card numbers of hundreds, or even thousands, of customers or employees. If that happens, the people who suffered financial losses because scammers stole their information can sue you for failing to protect their data. Several large companies have settled class action lawsuits after data breaches caused their employees and customers to become targets of financial crimes.
The worst part about data breaches is that they are preventable. Effective cybersecurity can protect the information stored on your company’s devices and network from data breaches; in one case, a company got hit by a virus for which a patch was available, but the company had not yet implemented the patch on its computer system. No matter the size of your business, you cannot afford not to have a cybersecurity firm assess your company’s cybersecurity practices and suggest ways to remedy weaknesses.
The Pursuit of Justice Requires You to Own Up to Your Mistakes
If you sue an employee or business partner for breach of contract, or even if you pursue criminal charges for fraud, you must be honest when communicating with the courts or with the police. You may have to give depositions for a civil case or be interviewed as a witness as part of a criminal investigation. The questions you face might present you in a negative light, but this is not the time to lie to save face. If you are worried that you could face criminal charges for business activities related or unrelated to the fraud, you should hire a criminal defense lawyer.
Contact Singular Law Group About Business Disputes
A business law attorney can help you if your company has suffered financial losses because of fraud. Contact Singular Law Group PLLC in Tempe, Arizona to set up a consultation.
A Tempe business law attorney can help you if you have experienced a data breach of your company’s computers or fraud by a business partner or employee.
