Authorised push payment (APP) fraud
Fraud in which a payer is deceived into authorising a payment to an account controlled by a fraudster, often by impersonating a genuine supplier.
Authorised push payment (APP) fraud occurs when a payer is deceived into authorising a payment to an account controlled by a fraudster. Because the payer initiates the transfer themselves, the usual fraud defences, which focus on unauthorised transactions, often do not catch it.
In an accounts payable context, APP fraud usually arrives as a convincing request to pay a genuine-looking invoice, or to update a supplier's bank details. The payment looks legitimate at every step because, technically, the business approved it. The deception is in who the money actually reaches.
Defending against it means verifying the recipient, not just the transaction: confirming that the supplier and the bank details are genuine before the payment is authorised, and flagging changes that fit known fraud patterns.
Accounting Links reduces APP fraud exposure by verifying supplier identity and bank details on a shared network and flagging changes that match known redirection and impersonation patterns before a payment is authorised.
Common questions
Why don't standard fraud checks catch APP fraud?
Standard checks focus on unauthorised transactions. In APP fraud the payer authorises the payment themselves, having been deceived, so the transaction looks legitimate. The defence is to verify the recipient and any change of bank details, not just the transaction.