The Rise of Invoice Fraud

Think twice about that invoice you just received. Cases of invoice fraud are rising worldwide, and scammers are finding new and innovative ways to create fake invoices and convince unknowing targets to pay up.

Picture this: You receive an email or phone call from what appears to be a client or vendor. They ask you to wire the funds to a different location and provide you with new wire transfer information. Although this seems like standard operating procedure, it is actually a brazen attempt to defraud the company out of what could be millions of dollars.

4 Ways to Stop Invoice Fraud

Examine the email address. Is it an official company email, or is it manufactured to look like the real deal? Also, look out for poor grammar and misspellings

Review the invoice. Is it on official company letterhead? And if so, does anything look off? In many cases, hackers will cut and paste logos and headers from outside sources to create fake invoices.

Call your client or vendor directly and verify that the request is legitimate.

Forward the email in question to all of your contacts with the client or vendor to ensure they are aware of this request. This should be done in addition to a phone call.

Invoice fraud is one of the fastest-growing and most urgent privacy and security issues facing our industry today. Examine all invoices carefully and, as always, question everything!

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