Russian Due Diligence Top Priority for Investing in Russia

Hacker threats and identity theft is here to stay.  Each person and company accessing the internet needs to take precaution in guarding and protecting private data, and passwords and financial information.  Once accessed, criminals can have a devastating impact, and even commit crimes in your name.  The turmoil that follows can take years to sort out, and can literally ruin your life.   The truth is, internet scams and fraud are making it hard to even conduct business, as no one can be trusted, and fraud risk continues to grow.  In Russia, the threat from scams and fraud is among the highest in the world, and relationships and business partners should be verified.

Online scams have reached unbelievable forms of intrigue and variations, and cannot even be imagined by any fiction novel or film ever produced.  Creativity is what keeps these crooks in business.  Much like criminals conducting Philippines scams, Russia is a high risk country where law enforcement has yet to take any real action.   Each year, internet fraud costs companies in the U.S. billions of dollars, and law enforcement is usually overwhelmed with requests to investigate.  In most cases, jurisdiction and the anonymity of the internet make an arrest not possible.  Crime rings in China and Russia have been identified, and some of them successfully prosecuted and criminals put behind bars.  Unfortunately, such events are rare and most criminals go free.

Security agencies like the FBI and Interpol have warned business and banks to ask for additional verifications when dealing with down payments, money orders or wire transfers involving Russia or China based bank accounts.  In fraud cases, once the money is received, it’s often gone.

Russia private investigators and law enforcement agencies encourage companies from countries like the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Australia to conduct in depth Russia due diligence on new contacts and relationships in the Eastern Europe region, and to verify unknown or new business contacts.  Ignoring the risk can lead to costly consequences or even bankruptcy or jail time, should a new manager or employee or business partner decide to engage in criminal activity.

Private investigators located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev and Beijing explain that large companies and wealthy investors are the primary target of criminals.  However, experts warn that anyone on the internet can be at risk from a Russian cyber criminal, and its best policy to protect your private information, and never send money or personal information to anyone in Russia or the Ukraine who has not been verified by a reputable Russia private investigator.

Scamming corporations has proven to be more effective and profitable for many hackers working from Russia, but individuals are still at risk.  In fact, once a criminal accesses a major company or bank database, your personal individual that was on file with the company at bank, is then in the hands of criminals, and as result you are at immediate risk of identity theft and financial loss.  In this way, it’s important to be careful about what you share with known companies as well.  Be sure your bank and companies you deal with have prudent policies in place to protect your data.

Be safe and skeptical online.  Protect your private data, and do your due diligence.

Best of luck,

A Hathaway
© 2012 A Hathaway