All clients should be aware of the increasing prevalence of invoice scams, with scammers targeting businesses by posing as suppliers or vendors. These scams commonly involve the sending of invoices that appear to be from legitimate sources, but the bank details have been altered.
Businesses are encouraged to review their procedures for validating invoices and consider including written procedures for validating any changes to vendor/client/customer contact details and also bank account details. Oral confirmation of the changes should also occur between the business representative and the vendor/client/customer.
Importantly, staff should treat any request to change payment details with extreme caution. Checking that an invoice is genuine before action is taken, particularly in the instance when there is a request for payment is highly recommended. By fostering awareness of invoice scams and adhering to written procedures as outlined above, businesses can improve their resilience against invoice scams and minimize the risk of financial loss.