Fake invoice scam sends payment to wrong bank account

If you paid an invoice only to find the bank details were wrong, you need to act fast. The FBI’s business email compromise guidance recommends contacting your sending bank immediately, according to hacked.com.

This fraud doesn’t always mean someone hacked your email. It’s often just a convincing impersonation. But waiting to figure out how it happened can cost you the chance to stop the money.

Steps to take right now

Here’s what you should do, in order. First, call your bank using a verified number. Give them the transaction amount, time, and the wrong account details. Don’t reply to the suspicious email or call any number in it.

Next, pause all scheduled payments and vendor-record changes involving that destination. Confirm this pause with the person authorized to manage your payments.

Then, contact the real supplier using a trusted number from before the scam. Ask them to confirm they never changed their bank details. Keep that confirmation separate from the fraud evidence.

Finally, ask your IT admin to preserve the original email. A display name isn’t enough; you need the full sender address, reply-to, and timestamps. For Microsoft 365 users, Microsoft’s compromised-account response covers blocking unauthorized access and revoking sessions.

Assign one person to track the bank’s requests and maintain the timeline. Don’t assume the bank has frozen the funds just because they asked you to contact the receiving institution. That’s not confirmation.

We’ve seen this exact thing take a week to unpick. The clock is ticking on recovery, so get the call done today.

Sources: hacked.com.