Business payment fraud
My business has lost money after a scam email.
How do I know if I'm a victim?
Cyber criminals may trick you by sending an email tailored to your organisation, impersonating someone you correspond with regularly, so it looks like you are dealing with a legitimate contact. They may send an invoice that looks real but contains a virus, or ask you to pay money into a different bank account.
This type of scam is an example of business payment fraud. It is also known as Business Email Compromise (or BEC).
What action should I take?
If you think you’ve been tricked into making a fraudulent payment, try not to panic, and take the following steps:
- Report it to your IT department or person as soon as you can - the sooner they know, the sooner they can help
- Contact your bank directly, and make sure you use their official website or phone number
If you don’t have an IT department or person and think your account has been compromised, you can refer to the actions to take to recover a hacked account, a step-by-step guide to recovering online accounts.
Report it
If your organisation has experienced a cyber incident and is based in the UK, you can report it.
Further resources
For more information about how to prevent attacks like this in future, there is NCSC guidance to help you:
