Gardaí warn Irish companies of individuals carrying out Invoice Redirect Fraud
Gardaí have warned Irish companies of Invoice Redirect Fraud by individuals purporting to be from the businesses' suppliers.
Irish companies big and small are being targeted on a daily basis by individuals who inform the company that their bank details have changed for payment of services.
Invoice Redirect Fraud is a crime targeting businesses working with suppliers and businesses that regularly perform online financial transactions.
In crimes of this nature, criminals send emails to businesses purporting to be one of their legitimate suppliers.
These emails contain an instruction to change the bank account details that the business has for a legitimate supplier, to bank account details that ultimately benefit the criminals.
These requests can also come by way of letter or phone call so caution should attach to any request of this nature.
The criminal intent is that when the legitimate supplier next sends an invoice to the company seeking payment for services rendered or goods supplied, the victim business acts on the new banking instructions and sends the payment to the criminal’s bank account where the funds are quickly transferred or withdrawn.
Detective Chief Patrick Lordan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau said earlier today:
"We would ask that companies only change their bank details through direct contact and not by email. The best thing to do is pick up the phone and talk to someone you know in the company.”
Businesses must ensure that they have robust policies and procedures in place to deal with requests of this nature including escalating the decision-making function to supervisory positions and making direct contact with a trusted known person in the suppliers' organisation.
It is imperative that a suitable known contact person is identified before a business relationship commences with the supplier.
