A Clare business has been conned out of a substantial sum of money after being targeted by fraudsters.
A Garda investigation is underway after the business received an email from a known supplier, requesting to change bank account details and lodge money into this account.
The business did this and later realised they had been a victim of what’s known as invoice re-direction fraud and that they’re at a substantial financial loss.
Clare’s Crime Prevention Officer, Sergeant Tríona Brooks is advising businesses to always make independent contact with suppliers to verify the contents of emails.
What is invoice re-direction fraud?
Otherwise known as Business E-mail Compromise. The fraudster sends an e-mail to a business purporting to be one of their legitimate suppliers. The e-mail contains a request to change bank account details that the business has for a legitimate supplier. The victim business changes the bank details and sends the next payment to the fraudster’s bank account where the funds are quickly withdrawn. The victim business does not know it is a victim of this crime until sometime later when the legitimate supplier sends a reminder invoice for payment.
What is the key advice?
- Always check e-mail addresses provided.
- Independent contact should be made with the supplier to verify the contents of their email.
- Always check IBAN changing its banking details.
- If in doubt, don’t hesitate in delaying any transfer of funds.
- Ask yourself why is it urgent? – always be suspicious
- Make that phone call.
What can you do as a business?
- Ensure that employees are informed and aware of this type of fraud and how to avoid it.
- Implement a procedure to verify the legitimacy of payment requests.
- Ensure remote workers have anti-virus software installed.
- Instruct staff responsible for paying invoices to always check them for any irregularities.
- Review information posted on your company website, in particular contacts and suppliers. Ensure your staff limit what they share about the company on social media.
What you can do as an employer?
- Verify all requests purporting to be from your creditors, especially if they ask you to change their bank details for future invoices.
- Do not use the contact details on the letter/email requesting the change. Use those from previous correspondence instead.
- For payments over a certain threshold, set up a procedure to confirm the correct bank account and recipient e.g. hold a meeting with the company.
- When an invoice is paid send an email to inform the recipient. Include the beneficiary bank name and the last four digits of the account to ensure security.
- Set up designated single points of contact with companies to whom you make regular payments.
