The plain-English UK ebook for sole traders and small firms
One convincing email could cost you your business.
ScamProof Your Business shows you how to stop invoice fraud, fake "boss" requests and phishing, with a payment rule you can agree in ten minutes and a setup you can finish in a weekend. No IT department needed.
- The payment call-back rule: one habit that helps stop invoice fraud
- The Business Weekend Setup for your devices, email, banking and accounts
- Free help from the NCSC and the police that you may not know about
- Instant PDF download
- Printable checklists
The problem
The most expensive email you'll ever get doesn't look dangerous.
Picture a Tuesday afternoon. You're on a job, or behind the counter, or halfway through a quote, and an email lands from a supplier you've used for years. Their bank has changed. The new details are attached. Could you use them for this month's invoice?
It looks right. It's from the right address. It even has the usual sign-off.
The attacks that do the most damage are rarely clever. They rely on a busy person, a believable story and a payment process with no second check. Small firms have all three, and no security team to catch the slip.
This ebook fixes the second check, and makes it easy to keep.
Get the ebook, £14.99The one habit
One simple rule could stop most invoice fraud before it starts.
Any new payee, and any change to a payee's bank details, is confirmed by phone, on a number we already had, before a penny is paid.
That's the payment call-back rule. Email can be faked, and a genuine mailbox can be hacked. The one route a criminal doesn't control is a number you had before they turned up.
The ebook shows you how to make the rule stick on a busy Friday afternoon, including what to ask when you call.
How scams really work
Four levers behind nearly every scam aimed at a business
Fake invoices, fake bosses, fake bank staff, fake Google reps. Learn them as separate stories and you'll always be one step behind. Underneath, they pull the same four levers:
- They came to youReal problems usually start with you noticing something.
- They need it done nowA scammer's worst enemy is a pause.
- They want it kept quietOften dressed up as "message me on WhatsApp instead".
- They want something unusualNew bank details, gift cards, a one-time passcode, remote access to your computer.
Feel any of them and use three words: Stop. Check. Call. It works at a desk exactly as it does at the kitchen table.
The scams covered
The scams that actually hit small firms, taken apart
Each one comes with what it looks like, the giveaway and what to do, using made-up examples and real-style case studies:
What you get
Not just warnings. A working system for your business.
Lock it down
The Business Weekend Setup is a one-off session for your router, devices, business email and online accounts. It makes them much harder to break into, even if someone clicks the wrong link one day.
Always get back up
A plain-English chapter on backups and ransomware.
Make checking normal
How to get staff to say "can I just check?" without feeling daft, plus an office rules poster and a staff card to print.
Know what to do in the first hour
An ordered plan for when something gets through, and another for when a business account is taken over.
Handle the aftermath
The data protection basics after a scam, and what cyber insurance is for and what it isn't.
Show customers you've done the basics
A clear guide to Cyber Essentials, the government-backed certification: what it checks, in plain English.
Keep it up
A fifteen-minute monthly check, plus printable checklists.
Free help
The police and GCHQ will help protect your business for free. You may not have heard about it.
There's no catch. The NCSC and UK policing run free services built for small businesses, charities and sole traders. The ebook shows you which ones are worth your time and how to get set up in an afternoon. Possibly with a biscuit.
Inside the ebook
What's inside, chapter by chapter
- Before you start: who this guide is for
- How scams really work: the four levers
- The scams that hit small businesses
- The payment call-back rule: one habit that helps prevent invoice fraud
- The Business Weekend Setup
- Backups and ransomware: making sure you can always get back up
- Your team: staff, devices and the "can I just check?" culture
- Cyber Essentials: the badge that proves you've done the basics
- Free help you may not know about
- The First Hour for a business: when something gets through
- When a business account is taken over
- Customer data: the data protection basics after a scam
- Insurance: what cyber cover is for, and what it is not
- Keeping it up: the fifteen-minute monthly business check
Plus: printable checklists, who to contact, the office rules poster and staff card, every link in one place, and a plain-English jargon buster.
Who it's for
Written for the people who pay the invoices
No technical knowledge needed. If you can find the Settings screen on a phone and log in to your business bank, you can do everything in it. Where something really does need an IT person, the ebook says so.
- Sole traders and tradespeople
- Small firms with no IT department
- Office managers and bookkeepers who pay invoices for someone else's business
- Small charities, clubs and community groups that handle money and personal details
Protect home as well as work
Get both ebooks for £17.99
Save £4.99 on buying them separately.
Scammers don't only go after the business. ScamProof Your Family covers the texts, calls and emails aimed at your household, and the kids' gaming accounts too. See the Family ebook.
Questions
I'm a sole trader with no staff. Is this for me?
Yes. If you're a sole trader, your business accounts are probably mixed with your personal ones, and the ebook says that's fine: protect them as the business accounts they are.
Do I need to be technical?
No. Where something needs an IT person, the ebook says so.
Is it UK-specific?
Yes. The contacts, banking routes, reporting services and schemes are all for the UK.
What if something has already gone wrong?
Go straight to the First Hour chapter. If you've lost money, call your bank first, and the ebook explains how 159 can help.
Is it up to date?
The free-help services were checked on 24 October 2026. The ebook also shows you how to verify any contact yourself on GOV.UK or the NCSC website.
Does it cover Cyber Essentials?
Yes, with a plain explanation of what it is, the five controls it checks, and how the Weekend Setup gets you a good part of the way there.
Can I print the checklists and poster?
Yes. The checklists and poster are designed to be printed at home.
One convincing email could cost you your business. Stop it before it starts.
Simple habits, a weekend setup and a plan for when something goes wrong.
Not ready? Read a free sample chapter
General safety guidance, not legal, financial or insurance advice.