A fake invoice email may demand payment for something your company never ordered—or use an invoice-themed phishing message to steal credentials or reach company systems. Don’t click its links or open attachments. Check the purchase against company records, verify the supplier through a contact method you already trust, and report the message through your workplace’s security process.
Why fake invoice emails are risky
Some messages try to collect money for goods or services the business did not order. Others use an invoice as bait to get access to company data or networks. The Federal Trade Commission described that second tactic in its May 2026 small-business alert, “Run a small business? Pay your bills, not scammers.”
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An unfamiliar sender, an unexpected amount, an overdue warning, or an urgent tone can justify closer review, but no single clue proves a message is fraudulent. A legitimate supplier’s mailbox could also be compromised. Treat the message as unverified until the purchase and payment request have been checked through normal channels.
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What to do when an invoice email looks suspicious
- Pause and leave the message untouched. Don’t click links, open attachments, enter credentials, reply with bank or account information, or use contact details supplied in the email to investigate. The FTC and Microsoft recommend avoiding suspicious message links and attachments; see the FTC’s fake-invoice guidance and Microsoft’s phishing advice.
- Check the business records. Ask whether the purchase was authorized, whether the company uses that supplier, and whether the invoice matches the purchase order, delivery, agreed amount, and expected payment details. Don’t let an overdue label or urgent request bypass the usual approval process.
- Verify independently. Contact the supplier using a phone number already stored in company records, or visit its website by entering a known address or finding it independently. Don’t use a phone number, link, or reply address taken from the suspicious message. The FTC advises independently checking invoice requests in its fake-invoice guidance.
- Report it using the workplace route. Use your organization’s phishing-report button or designated IT/security contact, and follow its instructions for retaining or deleting the message. If your organization uses Outlook, Microsoft explains how to report phishing through its phishing guidance. The exact workflow depends on your employer’s mail setup.
If someone clicked, opened a file, shared credentials, or paid
Tell IT/security and finance immediately, following your company’s incident procedures. Share what happened and when; don’t wait to see whether anything changes. If a password may have been exposed, the FTC advises changing compromised passwords. If a device appears infected with malware, FTC guidance says to disconnect it from the network. Payment recovery and technical response depend on the bank and the organization, so use their instructions rather than assuming a universal fix. See the FTC’s small-business alert and phishing guidance.
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How a workplace can reduce fake invoices and prevent payment
Make invoice approval explicit
Set a process that confirms a real purchase, a known supplier, the correct amount, and expected payment details before an invoice is approved. Keep purchasing and payment approvals within established company records and roles, rather than allowing a message’s urgency to substitute for verification. The FTC’s May 2026 alert recommends close invoice checks and clear purchase and invoice approval procedures.
Give staff a simple reporting route
Tell employees exactly where to send suspicious messages and make clear that reporting an unverified invoice is encouraged. A straightforward escalation path gives IT/security a chance to review a message and alert others. The FTC’s small-business cybersecurity guidance recommends a reporting safety net and staff training.
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Use email authentication, filtering, and current protections
Ask your email provider or administrator about SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for the organization’s sending domain. These mechanisms help receiving servers check whether messages claiming to come from that domain are authorized; they can help block or quarantine impostor mail. They do not prove that an invoice from a compromised legitimate mailbox is safe, nor do they catch every scam. The FTC explains these controls in its cybersecurity guidance. Keep security software and patches current, and train staff to recognize changing phishing attempts.
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Maintain regular backups, including to an external drive or cloud storage, so important data can be recovered if an incident causes damage. Backups are a resilience measure; they do not reduce fake invoice email volume or replace approval controls. The FTC discusses backups in its fake-invoice guidance.
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Reporting outside the company
Follow employer policy first. For U.S. phishing reports, the FTC identifies forwarding messages to [email protected] and reporting scams at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Public reporting options vary by location; employees elsewhere should use the relevant local authority or reporting service.
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