A PDF asking you to change a vendor’s bank details is a request—not proof that the change is genuine. Pause the supplier-record update and any affected payment, then confirm the change with an authorized vendor contact using contact information already on file or independently sourced. Never verify through a phone number, email address, link, or other detail supplied in the request.
How does vendor bank-account change fraud work?
A fraudster impersonates a supplier, spoofs its email, or gains access to a business account. The fraudster then claims the supplier’s payment details have changed and persuades an employee to update the vendor record or redirect a pending payment. The new account is controlled by the criminal. The request may arrive in an email or on forged headed paper and may target one payment or future invoices.
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FinCEN describes criminals impersonating suppliers and asking customers to route future invoice payments to a new account and location. A credible-looking letter or PDF can support that story, but it cannot establish that the request came from the supplier.
How can I tell if a vendor bank-change letter is fake?
No reliable visual or PDF-metadata test is established for authenticating these letters. A polished logo, signature, letterhead, or layout is not proof: forged headed paper is one known delivery method. Treat visible or contextual anomalies as reasons to investigate, not as a forensic verdict. The decisive safeguard is confirmation through a separate, trusted channel.
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- Different account or financial institution: A change from the details used before warrants verification, but the difference alone does not prove fraud.
- Urgency or secrecy: Be cautious if the request imposes a short deadline, asks you not to discuss it, or leaves little time to confirm.
- Unusual sender or channel: Look for subtle spelling or character differences in an email address, or a message arriving through an unexpected route. Spoofed and lookalike addresses are known tactics.
- New contact information: A request that changes both bank and contact details—or instructs you to use new details in the same letter or email—is especially important to verify independently.
- Unexpected payment context: Check whether the language, timing, amount, beneficiary, or payment pattern differs from the vendor’s previously verified instructions. Consider the full context; no single transaction signal necessarily establishes fraud.
A supplier sent a PDF with new bank details. What should I do?
- Pause the change and affected payment. Follow your organization’s procedure to hold the vendor master-data update and any payment that depends on it. Keep the request unverified while you check it.
- Find a trusted contact independently. Retrieve the vendor’s details from an existing trusted system or independently locate its official website. Do not use contact details in the PDF, letter, email, or attachment.
- Make an outbound confirmation. Call the established vendor contact, or use another known channel, and speak with the person authorized to confirm payment instructions. Confirm both that the change was requested and the new details. Do not rely on an inbound call or a reply within a potentially compromised email thread.
- Apply approvals and record the verification. Follow your normal approval and separation-of-duties controls. Record who confirmed the change and how; update the supplier record only after confirmation.
- Keep preventive controls in place. Strong passphrases, two-factor authentication, DMARC, current antivirus, and timely software patches can help reduce account-compromise or spoofing risk. They do not replace independent confirmation of an individual payment change.
Should I call the phone number on the bank letter?
No. A number or email address included in the change request may be controlled by the same person who sent it. Use contact information that predates the request or find an official contact independently, then initiate the conversation yourself. The person you reach should be authorized to confirm payment instructions.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What should a safe verification process include?
Use these checks to assess whether your workflow is strong enough to approve a change:
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- The confirmation channel is independent of the incoming request.
- The contact details were already on file or were obtained independently.
- The person contacted is authorized to confirm the vendor’s payment instructions.
- A second approval and an audit trail are in place.
- The process can hold the payment while confirmation is pending.
The Singapore Police Force’s 20 May 2026 advisory stated: “Employees should treat requests to change a vendor’s bank account details, which are generally uncommon, as a red flag and verify before taking other actions.” Its advisory reported at least 66 cases and at least S$19 million in losses since 1 January 2026 in Singapore. Those figures describe reported Singapore cases during that stated period, not a global estimate.
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What if we already paid the new account?
- Contact your sending financial institution immediately. Ask it to contact the receiving institution and attempt to stop or recover the payment.
- Report the incident through the appropriate local channel. The FBI directs BEC victims to report through IC3 in the United States. FinCEN says recovery is not assured and that unauthorized BEC wires have had greater recovery success when reported to law enforcement within 24 hours; this is U.S. financial-institution guidance, not a guarantee or a universal deadline.
- Follow jurisdiction-specific guidance. Bank of Ireland advises customers in Ireland to contact their bank promptly about suspicious payment correspondence and report suspected fraud to An Garda Síochána. Reporting routes differ by location.
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