We’ve seen a lot more fraud attempts lately across our outsourced accounting clients. None of these scams are particularly new, but what has changed is how convincing they’ve become. While in most instances the scam was uncovered before any money changed hands, these moments still serve as as a good reminder of how sophisticated scammers have become.
Urgent request for payment:
A lot of these fraud attempts start with an urgent payment request. The email might appear to come from someone you’d expect, such as a vendor, an executive within the organization, or even a board member asking you to process their payment request immediately. The request will usually come with a reason why it can’t wait. For example, an overdue invoice, a last-minute deadline, or a simple, “I need this taken care of today.” The goal is to create enough pressure that the payment gets processed and approved as quickly as possible without anyone taking the time to verify the request.
Requests to change vendor payment information:
Scammers also impersonate vendors and request updates to a vendor’s ACH or wire information. At first glance, these emails can look almost identical to legitimate requests from the real vendor. Sometimes the only difference is a small change in the sender’s email address, like an extra letter, a different domain, or a dash where there is usually a period. The email isn’t always directly tied to a payment request at that moment, which can make it seem significantly less suspicious. Once the payment information is updated, future payments could be routed to the scammer’s account instead of your vendor.
Compromised email accounts:
Sometimes the email isn’t fake at all. Instead, a scammer has hacked a legitimate email account, so the request comes from the person’s actual email address. Nothing about the email looks unusual. The email address is correct, and the message looks like every other email you’ve received from that person. That’s what makes these requests harder to spot. Even if the email comes from someone you know, it’s worth picking up the phone to confirm whether the request is legitimate before any action is taken.
Overpayment check scams:
Another tactic scammers use involves sending a check for more than what is owed, sometimes with an extra zero added “by mistake.” The sender quickly reaches out, says it was a clerical error, and asks you to refund the difference right away. It sounds reasonable, but just because you’ve deposited the check doesn’t mean the funds have actually cleared. If you refund the difference before the bank rejects the original check, you likely won’t recover the money.
The bottom line? Take the extra time to verify.
While each of these fraud attempts looks a little different, they all have one thing in common: they’re designed to get you to act before taking the time to verify the request. Urgency is a scammer’s best friend. Whether it’s an urgent payment, updated banking information, or an email that appears to come from someone you know, taking a few extra minutes to confirm the details can make all the difference. Fraud attempts will continue to evolve, but taking a few extra minutes to verify unusual requests can go a long way toward protecting your organization.
