Invoice fraud
Any fraud that uses a false or manipulated invoice to obtain payment, including fake invoices, duplicate invoices and genuine invoices with altered bank details.
Invoice fraud is the umbrella term for frauds that use an invoice to get paid. The main forms are fake invoices for goods or services never supplied, duplicate or inflated invoices, and genuine invoices where the bank details have been changed so the payment goes to the fraudster. The last of these, often called mandate fraud or invoice redirection fraud, causes the largest losses because the invoice itself is real.
Invoice fraud can come from outside, through supplier impersonation or business email compromise, or from inside, where someone with access to the supplier file creates a fictitious supplier. Businesses of every size are targeted, but smaller finance teams with fewer controls and less separation of duties are especially exposed.
Most invoice fraud succeeds because the buyer is relying on the invoice to tell it who to pay. Checking every invoice against a verified supplier identity and verified bank details, rather than against the document in front of you, removes the lever the fraudster is pulling.