Posted on October 21, 2020
In light of many businesses working from home during Melbourne’s lockdown, unfortunately scammers have come out in flocks.
Whilst working from home, you may have relaxed the processes within your business when paying invoices rendered to you. Perhaps you usually receive invoices in person by a supplier delivering goods at your premise or on the job site. The supplier is dressed in a uniform you recognise and there is no opportunity for the invoice to be intercepted between the supplier’s hand and yours.
However, in the current lockdown, it is most likely that invoices are sent to you by email as face to face contact is at an all-time low.
In response to emails increasing between businesses, scammers have found the opportunity to intervene. We encourage you to be wary of subject lines stating a change of bank account details or seeking payment to an account you are not familiar with.
We recommend that your business follow these tips to avoid making a payment to a scammer:
- If you are making payment to an account for the first time, seek confirmation of those payment details by email and telephone. The telephone number should be one that you know and have used previously, otherwise scammers may also be able to misdirect you to their own telephone number to complete the same.
- If you are sent an email seeking payment to a new bank account, even if you are very familiar with the payee, pick up the telephone and speak with someone you are familiar with to confirm the change in payment details.
- Double check the email address sending you the invoice to ensure that you are familiar with that address.
- Read the body of the email attaching the invoice carefully. Are there any typos or language used that is out of character?
If you would like to further speak about policies to implement within your business or you have unfortunately paid a scammer in error and the correct payee is seeking payment from you, please contact our office on 9853 0311 or email to [email protected] to discuss your circumstances further.
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The content of our news articles are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. We recommend that you seek professional legal advice for your specific circumstances.
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