Home » Breaking News » Clare firm’s ‘substantial’ loss after invoice redirection scam

Clare firm’s ‘substantial’ loss after invoice redirection scam

Car Tourismo Banner

GARDAI have issued advice to companies in county Clare on how to recognise potential invoice redirection fraud after a local firm lost a substantial amount of money to such a scam.

Clare crime preventioon officer Sergeant Triona Brooks said, “Unfortunately during the week a business in the county received an e-mail from a known supplier requesting to change bank account details and to lodge monies into this account which they did and realised after the lodgement that they had been compromised and are at a loss of a substantial amount of money.”

Sergeant Brooks said, invoice redirection fraud, otherwise known as business e-mail compromise can occuer when a 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changes the bank details and sends the next payment to the fraudster’s bank account where the funds are quickly withdrawn.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.

Sergeant Brooks outlined a number of precautions companies can take to guard against this fraud, including:
• 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.

She added that businesses can do the following to help prevent falling foul of the fraud
• 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.

Sergeant Brooks further added that employers should
• 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.

Check Also

Kilkee mother thanks people of Clare for helping to save Tadhg

NEW Zealand boy who made an appeal through The Clare Champion for help in bringing …