Combating Invoice Fraud
As scams mount it is important to be vigilant and to put protections in place for your business
New figures from FraudSMART, the fraud awareness initiative led by Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), show that during the first half of 2022, Irish businesses were conned out of an average of €14,000 due to invoice fraud. And as over 70,000 business are due to move their bank accounts before the end of the year (due to the exit of both Ulster Bank and KBC from the Irish market) it further exposes them to potential invoice fraud.
Invoice redirection fraud occurs when a business receives a fraudulent email that claims to be from an existing supplier. The fraudulent email will include information of new bank details that are required for payment.
Fight fraud risk by using einvoicing
eInvoicing is a significant preventative measure as it reduces the risk of fake or compromised invoices and email billing scams. The electronic invoice is delivered directly into the customer’s software via a secure network, so there is then less risk of lost or fraudulent invoices being paid.
The consequences of falling for an invoice scam can be catastrophic to a business so it is important that every business does all it can to avert such a scenario occuring.
How to prevent invoice fraud
- Have a verification process in place before changing saved bank account details of your suppliers or service providers.
- Verify the actual banking changes by contacting a known contact within the company directly
- Important to use contact details held on record or use a contact number on the company’s website
- Do not contact anyone either through links or contact details supplied in the email as you may be contacting the fraudster.
- Inform all employees of these types of fraud so they are alert to it happening
- Consider implementing electronic invoicing to bolster your online security
Peppol Connect
Peppol Connect helps suppliers securely send and receive invoices seamlessly and allows PSB’s to make payments faster
Peppol Connect is Celtrino’s certified and scalable Peppol Access Point Services product that links an organisation to the Peppol Network.
Following on from the introduction of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and PO Flip, we are also including a Product Catalogue in Peppol Connect that identifies the complete list of all eligible products that a supplier makes available.
Peppol Connect – Enhanced Security
Multi-Factor Authentication is a Peppol Connect feature that offers greater security for trading partners exchanging commercially sensitive data such as invoices and banking details. Enforcing the usage of a multi-factor authentication element such as a one-time passcode (OTP) increases your organisation’s trust in its ability to protect itself against data theft.
