Fraud Alert for Business Customers

Beware of Requests to Change a Supplier's Banking and/or Mailing Details

Several businesses in the Toronto and Montreal areas have been contacted recently by fraudsters claiming to be a supplier of the contacted business. In this scam, the fraudster typically makes contact with the Accounts Payable area of a business and explains that the supplier's address and banking information have changed. The fraudster requests that all future payments for this supplier be sent to this new bank account and/or mailing address.

These fraudsters have used a variety of methods to initiate this scam:

They send a false fax designed to look like a legitimate fax from the actual supplier, or
They send an e-mail from a phoney e-mail account, claiming to originate from the actual supplier, or
They call an individual in the Accounts Payable area with the request, and follow up with a false fax or e-mail, as described above

It is prudent for all businesses to be aware of such scams and consider implementing protective measures.

How can you protect your business from this type of scam?

Advise your Accounts Payable team that whenever a supplier contacts them and requests that they update sensitive, high risk information (such as banking information, company mailing address, key contact names, or business name), they should make a return call to a trusted contact person at the supplier to validate that this request is legitimate.

Remember:

Do not advise the individual making the request that the validation call will be made.
Do not use any new telephone number(s) provided by the individual making the request.