1st Edition

Purchasing Scams and How to Avoid Them

By Trevor Kitching Copyright 2001
    114 Pages
    by Routledge

    This title was first published in 2001. Purchasing scams are not a high profile topic in the boardroom or indeed in the purchasing department - victims don’t like to talk about their experience. They don’t want to admit that they were gullible enough to be fooled by a fake invoice or a plausible appeal for a bogus charity. And yet scams cost companies thousands of pounds every year! Purchasing Scams and How to Avoid Them provides a comprehensive and practical guide to avoiding scams in the first place: any initiative in relation to scams must focus on prevention rather than cure. It contains descriptions of all of the most common scams including bogus directories, over-priced office consumables and business consultants who are too good to be true. It also describes how the infamous and ubiquitous Nigeria scam works. Advice is given on how to avoid each and, most importantly, how to establish a purchasing function that will provide effective defences against the perpetrators of such operations.

    Contents: Introduction - the nature of a scam; Getting the purchasing function right; The bogus directory scam; The paper scam - and other consumables; The Nigeria scam; Bogus consultants; Charity scams; Borderline scams; The Internet - the new frontier for scam merchants; Checklist for scam avoidance; Index.

    Biography

    After obtaining his degree and PhD, Trevor Kitching carried out materials research and production management roles in the engineering industry. He is now Director at ACS Supply Chain Consultancy.

    '... a useful addition to Gower's range of titles, not least because there appears to be very little written on this topic.' Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, April 2001 'Serious though the book is, readers will find it both entertaining and rewarding ... Kitching's overriding message is that the scam merchants will do their homework on your company, so you must do the same on them. That research must include a thorough reading of Purchasing Scams and How to Avoid Them.' Security Magazine, June 2001 'could be a great saver of face as well as money.' FMX, June 2001 'Kitching's overriding message is that the scam merchants will do their homework on your company, so you must do the same on them. That research must include a thorough reading of Purchasing Scams and How to Avoid Them.' Security Management and Industry Today, July 2001 'Purchasing Scams and How to Avoid Them provides an essential guide to some of the more spectacular and commonplace ways to dupe the purchasing professional ... Well worth the price - this book could save you thousands.' Supply Management, September 2001 'this book has the potential to save businesses large amounts of money ... A very well written and easy to follow book, Purchasing Scams and How To Avoid Them should be seriously considered a must buy for the majority of small to medium businesses.' M2 Best Books, June 2001