Businesses lose £93m to invoice scams in 2018

Invoice scams take place when fraudsters trick businesses into transferring money by posing as legitimate payees. UK Finance's data shows that there were 3,280 invoice and mandate scam cases involving businesses over the year, with an average loss per case of over £28,000. £29.6m of the money lost to this type of fraud was returned to business customers.

Separate research from UK Finance found that 43% of businesses were unaware of the existence of invoice fraud.

The survey of 1,500 firms across the UK found that over half (55%) of sole traders were aware of the threat of invoice fraud compared to two-thirds (68%) of small business and over four in five (84%) large businesses.

Smaller firms were also less likely to have experienced invoice fraud, with around 6% of sole traders having been targeted compared to 26% of larger firms.

Only one in seven (14%) sole traders have taken steps to protect themselves from these kinds of scams, compared to around half (47%) of small businesses and two thirds (63%) of large firms.

Katy Worobec, managing director of economic crime at UK Finance, said: “Invoice fraud could happen to businesses of all sizes. It’s vital that all employees are trained to identify potentially fraudulent transactions and follow the advice of our Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign.

“The gangs behind this type of fraud are increasingly sophisticated and will often get hold of details that allow them to pose convincingly as regular suppliers.

“If a someone contacts you asking for a supplier’s bank account details to be changed, always verify with that supplier separately on the phone or in person, using the contact details you have on file.

“If you suspect you’ve fallen victim to fraud, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud.”