As the tax year end approaches, UK Finance’s Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign is urging businesses to stay vigilant against CEO and mandate scams – key tactics used by fraudsters to target businesses.
UK Finance’s latest half year fraud report reveals that in the first half of 2024 alone, losses due to these scams totalled £33.5 million. Invoice and mandate scams accounted for £25.7 million lost, with 78% (£20 million) occurring on business accounts, while £7.8 million were lost to CEO scams, averaging nearly £50,000 per case – the highest of all scam types.
Fraudsters often research company structures and employees over several months to impersonate senior staff or trusted suppliers, tricking businesses into making unauthorised payments.
UK Finance’s Take Five campaign offers top five tips for businesses during this busy time of the year exploited by criminals:
- Ensure staff closely check invoices and payment details at every stage of the process.
- Verify unexpected urgent payment requests by confirming directly with the sender.
- Question changes in payment information - suppliers rarely change bank details.
- Implement strong payment processes and cybersecurity, educating employees on these.
- Be careful of the business information you share online to reduce exposure to scammers.
Take Five also encourages everyone to Stop, Challenge and Protect:
- STOP: Pause and think before sharing money or information.
- CHALLENGE: Question if it's fake - it’s ok to reject or ignore pressure tactics, only criminals will try to rush you.
- PROTECT: If you think you’ve been scammed, contact your bank and Action Fraud immediately at actionfraud.police.uk or on 0330 123 2040.
Giles Mason, Take Five spokesperson noted: “As the end of the tax year approaches, it’s important for business to stay alert to potential threats of fraud to their businesses. Businesses often process higher-value payments more frequently, making it harder to spot a fraudulent one. By following the Take Five to Stop Fraud advice, you’ll help Stop, Challenge and Protect your businesses from threats of fraud.”