By Cal Tatum

Herald Sports Editor

EVANSTON — Small business owners must wear many hats: inventory specialists, purchasers, public relations, marketing managers, accountants — and to add to their already long list of duties, they also must be on the alert for fraud.

The Evanston Police Department presented at Wednesday’s Evanston Small Business Network meeting. The presentation focused on how to protect businesses from fraud. Attendees also learned some steps on what to do in the event of an active shooter.

Evanston Police Chief Jon Kirby began the meeting by telling business owners and managers that most fraud is committed by employees. 

“Employers must have many checks and balances in place to reduce employee fraud,” Kirby said. “It is important to trust. In the police department, we trust each other with our lives but we still have checks and balances and consider these on a regular basis. In your company, if fraud goes on too long it can be difficult to recover from.”

There are cases of people calling homes and businesses telling them they are in debt to the IRS and must pay up or face jail time, which are scams. Some have been notified that a child or family member has broken the law in a foreign country and needs someone to bail them out of jail. 

“There are a lot of people out there with nothing better to do than to try to take your money,” Kirby said.

Lt. Rhett Groll spoke about how “white collar” crimes have increased in the past 18 months.

He then showed a video taken in a police station when a man, not knowing he was talking to a police officer, called with the classic IRS scam. The man told the officer that he had to pay within the next 24 hours or face arrest. The officer, holding his hand over the phone to hide his laughter, asked who was going to arrest him and asked for the name of the caller.

The man initially said he couldn’t give his name but could give him his identification number. The officer again asked for his name and identification number and the caller quickly gave a name and number. The officer, trying not to laugh after getting a name from the man who said he couldn’t give his name, then asked for the man’s name again. The caller gave him a different name and then tried to put them together as a first, middle and last name.

The problem with these types of scams, Groll said, is that about 99 percent of the calls are from out of the country and police do not have the resources to go after the criminals.

Groll reiterated that most problems with small businesses come from employee fraud.

“Before you hire someone,” Groll said, “invest in a hiring process which includes a background check. At the very least, follow up with former employers and references.”

Groll said that you can invest in contracts which will allow former employers to provide more information about a potential employee but will help to protect them from legal action, to some degree.

“You have to explain your policies when it comes to theft,” Groll said. “Explain you have a zero-tolerance program.

“Provide your employees an opportunity to report fraud when they know it is happening,” he continued. “A way to report anonymously is best.”

Groll suggested installing cameras in and around your business and letting employees know they are being watched.

He suggested looking for unhappy employees or those having financial difficulties. Perform regular integrity checks, rotate employees through cross training and ensure passwords are being changed regularly. Keep a constant eye on financial documents and perform unscheduled audits on financial documents and inventory.

He said businesses should always require two signatures on checks.

One person asked about third-party hotlines where people can report potential fraud and Groll said, locally, one good number to call is Crime Stoppers (789-CASH), where tips can be reported anonymously and will be checked out.

Some other suggestions were to try to have one computer system dedicated for banking, so the owner can maintain better control, and always use one credit card for personal use and a separate card for business. Keep track of employees use on company computers to ensure they are only being used for business.

Sgt. Shawn Stahl spoke briefly about active shooter situations, something Evanston has faced before. He mentioned an incident in 2008, when a disgruntled employee killed his former boss and then himself.

In the past several months, Evanston has seen an extraordinary number of violent crimes, including two murders.

“Most, 45.6 percent, of active shooter situations apply to industrial areas,” said Stahl. “Columbine (a school shooting in Colorado that took place in 1999) really got people thinking more about active shooter situations.”

Three of Evanston’s police officers are now certified to instruct business owners and schools in ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate), a class teaching how to handle active shooter situations.

“We conduct regular training sessions with our local schools,” Stahl said. “The school district has their own ALICE trainer.”

The Evanston Police Department offers ALICE training at no cost to assist in protecting the residents of Evanston. 

“We prefer to schedule classes of at least 10 people,” Stahl said. “We can do smaller classes if needed or we may put your business with others to have a good class size. We may even look at having a community class.”

One of the comments the police hear on a regular basis is: “I didn’t call because I didn’t want to waste your time.”

“Calling law enforcement is not wasting our time,” Kirby said. “We are not everywhere and we need the eyes and ears of the public to protect the residents of our city. It’s not a waste, give us a call.”

The Evanston Small Business Network is a group of business owners working together for the betterment of the community. Their mission statement is “Striving to empower and educate small business for success.”

Members meet regularly to achieve their goals and always welcome new businesses. The fee is $30 per year and provides businesses with new marketing avenues and networking capabilities along with beneficial programs. You can contact the Evanston Small Business Network by calling (307) 679-2168.