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Protect your business from invoice fraud

Invoice fraud: protect your business from fake invoices

Invoice fraud doesn't just affect individuals. It can also affect business transactions. It’s a process where scammers manipulate bank details to divert funds, and it can have disastrous consequences on a company's financial health. To protect yourself, it's good to know how they operate.

What tactics do scammers use?

Scammers will try to change your supplier's bank details on an invoice in any way they can. Here are a few examples:

• They intercept the invoice before you receive it, change the supplier's account number, and then send it to you
• They create a fake invoice from publicly available data relating to your business relationships
• They hack into one of your suppliers' messaging systems and send you an email in the supplier’s name asking you to change the account number
• They impersonate a supplier and call a member of your financial or accounting department to ask them to change the account number registered in your database
• They hack into an email account within your organisation to send an internal email to the accounting department informing them of a change of supplier bank details

How can you protect yourself from invoice fraud?

1. Always check requests to change bank details: contact the requester using a different phone number or email address than the one provided in the message received. Use the "Forward" function instead of "Reply".
2. Ensure that your payment processes are transparent and properly monitored.
3. Establish clear procedures for checking payment orders or requests for sensitive information, especially when sent by email.
4. Inform your staff and ensure they receive proper training so that they can quickly identify and respond to fraud.
5. Adjust your contracts so that you obtain your suppliers' account information before receiving the first invoice.
6. Compare the account number on the invoice you’ve received with your own information.
7. Be extra-vigilant in relation to supposedly urgent payments that involve bypassing normal procedures.
8. Never describe your company's payment procedures to strangers.

Have you been a victim of fraud?

Immediately alert your bank to try to block the funds before they disappear. Don't wait too long, as the chances of recovering the stolen amount decrease over time.

You may have to go through other formalities with the authorities (filing a report with the police, reporting the incident to the Belgian government’s "Report" service etc.).

In the face of the growing threat of invoice fraud, businesses must take a proactive approach to financial security. Prevention, detection and rapid response are essential if you want to minimise risks and protect the company's assets. To guard against phishing and fraud, read our tips and advice via the link below.

Protect your business from fraud and phishing