This is a sponsored blog post from Paymerang.
Here are some tips to help you identify vendor impersonations and reduce payment fraud.
ABCD of Vendor Impersonators
A- Aggressor
Is forceful and demanding. Don’t be coerced!
B- Bouncer
Uses multiple contacts in your company until someone does what they ask. Don’t let them play games!
C- Clueless
Phishes for information without knowing basic facts (i.e. their own invoice number or whether payment has settled). Don’t give them information!
D- Desperately Hasty
In a rush for action with unnecessary urgency. Don’t be pressured!
Notice
Take notice of unusual tone, style, or word choices in emails
Be careful with vendor requests for banking information changes
Be aware of emails that come from personal email addresses or misspelled company email address (i.e. Jim@staples.com vs. jim@stapless.com)
Verify
When in doubt about an email, call the vendor using internal contact information and verify shared information before taking a critical action
Segregates duties of approving invoices and processing payments
Before clicking on a link, make sure to certify the email is legitimate
Educate
Communicate often internally as a team and externally with vendors
Create scripts or verification methods to verify and validate requests