^{Security Tips} Payment Fraud

Spoofed Bank Account Details: How Fraudsters Operate

Internet fraud remains one of the most common types of crime targeting commercial organizations. Despite the preventive measures implemented by companies, employees continue to fall victim to fraudsters and unknowingly transfer funds to criminals.

How Payment Fraud Works

• Fraudsters send emails containing malicious links or malware-infected attachments. Once these files are opened or links are clicked, attackers gain unauthorized access to the organization's corporate email accounts and other information systems.
• After gaining access to business correspondence, fraudsters secretly monitor communications, study commercial relationships with business partners and counterparties, and identify upcoming payment activities.
• Fraudsters then send an email impersonating a trusted business partner or counterparty, claiming that their bank account details have changed and requesting that future payments be made to a new account.
• In most cases, the fraud is discovered much later, when the genuine partner informs the company that a payment has not been received. By that time, the criminals have usually withdrawn and laundered the funds, making recovery extremely difficult.

Measures to Prevent Payment Fraud

• Exercise increased vigilance when receiving emails from counterparties and business partners.
• Carefully verify the sender’s email address and pay close attention to even minor differences in domain names. For example: [email protected] and [email protected]. Such differences may be barely noticeable; however, these types of spoofed email addresses are commonly used by fraudsters.
• Do not click on suspicious links or open attachments received from unverified sources.
• Always verify any request to change bank account details by directly contacting your business partner using previously known and trusted contact information.
• Never use telephone numbers or email addresses provided in a message requesting changes to payment or banking details, as these may belong to fraudsters.

Timely adherence to these precautions can significantly reduce the risk of business email compromise and help to prevent financial losses resulting from fraudulent activities.