Scams and fraud are on the rise – especially ACH and wire fraud. Criminals and con artists use many tactics to target unsuspecting people who have access to money, and we want you to be aware of how to keep you and your business safe from scammers.
Here are some of the latest scams to watch out for:
Business Email Compromise (BEC) and phishing scams.
BEC scams target companies that may make wire transfers to suppliers and businesses. BEC scams begin with a criminal sending a phishing email to a company that seems to be from someone they know. The employee clicks a link or provides their password, bank account, or other sensitive information, and the fraudster gains access to the employee’s email account.
Senior executive spoofing scams.
In this type of scam, a company employee will receive a transfer request via email; the domain will look very close to the company’s domain and appears to be from the CEO or other company executives. However, the request comes from a hacked email account or an account “spoofed” to appear legitimate. The fraudster creates a sense of urgency and rushes the employee into making a decision to send the transfer before researching and verbally confirming the request.
Overpayment scams.
In this type of scam, a fraudster poses as a trusted vendor and sends a check for more than the agreed-upon amount of an actual vendor. Then, they insist that the overpayment be wired back to them. Later, the check gets returned, leaving you liable for the entire amount.
Vendor spoofing scams.
An employee receives an email or phone call from a trusted vendor requesting a change in payment. Without due diligence and validation processes to confirm the request, the employee transfers the funds to the fraudster’s bank account.
