Guide
Vendor Says Their Bank Details Changed? How to Stop Fake Invoice Scams
An email from a “vendor” asks you to pay a new bank account. It is one of the most expensive scams small businesses face. Here is how to spot it, stop it and protect your email.
Short answer: Never change payment details because of an email alone. Call the vendor at a phone number you already had, not one in the email, and confirm. If money already went out, call your bank immediately to try to recall it, then secure your email accounts.
How the scam works
Criminals break into a vendor’s email or yours, or register a look-alike address, then read real conversations. At the right moment they send a convincing invoice or “updated banking details.” This is called business email compromise, and it is one of the costliest crimes reported to the FBI.
Red flags
- New bank details, especially “temporary” or overseas accounts.
- Urgency or secrecy: “pay today,” “I’m in meetings, don’t call.”
- A sender address that is one letter off.
- Replies that go to a different address than the one you wrote to.
If you already paid
- Call your bank’s fraud line right away and ask for a recall.
- File a report at ic3.gov.
- Reset passwords and turn on two-step verification for every email account.
- Check email rules and forwarding for anything you didn’t set up.
Prevent it
- A written rule: payment changes are confirmed by phone, using a known number.
- Two-step verification on every email account.
- Email security that flags look-alike domains and outside senders.
- Short, regular staff training on the warning signs.
We lock this down for small businesses: see business email compromise protection and two-step verification rollout.
Frequently asked questions
Can the bank get the money back?
Sometimes, if you act within hours. The faster you call your bank, the better the odds of recalling the payment.
Is this only a big-company problem?
No. Small businesses are frequent targets because they often lack verification steps and security tools.