Stop invoice fraud before it happens

Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud is a type of scam where a person or business is tricked into willingly sending money to a fraudster. In most cases, the scam impersonates a trusted supplier, colleague, or business to elicit a payment to the wrong bank account. Because the payment is “authorised” by the sender, it’s harder to recover the funds, posing a serious risk for businesses.
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APP fraud often involves fake invoices, urgent requests, or bank detail changes that appear legitimate. Businesses can reduce their risk by using invoice verification tools, confirming payment details, and having clear approval processes in place.
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Invoice verification is the process of checking if an invoice is genuine before paying it. It helps protect businesses from fraud by identifying red flags like new supplier bank accounts, suspicious email addresses, or unusual payment details. Invoice verification is also an important process to ensure the contents of an invoice are accurate.

Invoice fraud can result in significant financial loss if not caught in time. Here are a few ways to reduce the risk to your business:
- Confirm new or updated payment details independently before sending payments
- Use software to flag suspicious payments
- Establish multi-step approval workflows for all payments
- Train your team to spot common red flags such as unexpected payment requests

Using a solution like Telleroo’s invoice verification tool can help your business detect fraudulent invoices before money leaves your account.

When you input supplier company name and sender email address we'll check these for signs of fraud. Specifically, we'll look at whether the company is newly registered, which can be a red flag, or if the email comes from a generic domain like Gmail rather than a verified business address. The tool then provides a risk signal, helping you assess whether the invoice may be suspicious. It’s a fast and simple way to improve your supplier due diligence process and reduce the risk of fraud.

Confirmation of Payee (CoP) is a name-checking service that verifies whether the name on a recipient's bank account matches the name you're trying to pay. When you enter a payee's account number and sort code, CoP returns one of three results: a full match, a partial match, or no match. A partial or no match is a strong signal to pause and double-check before sending any money, it could indicate fraud, an error, or a genuine account change that needs verifying. Telleroo runs Confirmation of Payee checks on all UK recipients automatically, flagging anything that doesn't look right before a payment is sent.

Fake invoices are designed to look genuine, but there are common red flags to watch for: an email address that doesn't quite match your supplier's real domain, a request to update bank details alongside an invoice, unusual urgency, a newly registered company name, or invoice amounts that differ from your usual arrangement. If something feels off, verify directly with your supplier using contact details you already hold, never use the contact details on the invoice itself.

A payment approval workflow is a process that requires one or more people to review and authorise payments before they're sent. By separating who creates payments from who approves them, you significantly reduce the risk of fraud and human error, any suspicious or incorrect payment is more likely to be caught before money leaves your account. For businesses processing payroll or high volumes of supplier payments, multi-step approvals are considered best practice. Telleroo has flexible approval workflows built in, with the option to require dual approval for added security.

Treat any bank detail change request with caution, it's one of the most common tactics used in invoice fraud. Never update details based on an email alone, even if it looks legitimate. Call your supplier directly using a number you already have on file to confirm the change, and use a payment platform that runs Confirmation of Payee (CoP) checks to verify the new account name before sending any payment. Making this a formal step in your accounts payable process ensures your whole team knows never to action bank detail changes without independent verification. Telleroo automatically runs CoP checks and flags new and updated payee details in every pay run, prompting your team to check before approving.