Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud is whereby fraudsters tricking victims into making large payments by bank transfer. APP fraud is one of the most prevalent scams with, more than £450million being lost in the first half of 2024. Banks and financial providers were only able to return £121.5million of these losses
These scams are simple, but effective and scammers tend to gain useful information about their targets via the business website, looking to replicate the email addresses of managing directors, CEO’s and finance directors in order to harness their authority s within the business in an attempt to get employees make fraudulent payments.
How to protect yourself and your business from APP fraud:
- If anyone asks you to send a payment to different bank details than you were expecting, verify it with the intended recipient before sending. Do not trust the contact details listed in any emails, as they are likely to be the details of the hacker and not the company in question.
- When making large payments (even one you are expecting) you can make a small payment first and check that the payment is sent to the correct person before transferring the rest.
- Employees who communicate with your suppliers should be informed of what types of information a supplier will and won’t ask forStaff should know the escalation procedure for dealing with suspected fraud. .
- If you are a business, charity or other organisation which is currently suffering a live cyber-attack (in progress), please call 0300 123 2040 immediately. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can also report online at actionfraud.police.uk.
- For more advice on how to improve your business’ cyber security in an affordable and practical way, please see the National Cyber Security Centre’s Small Business Guide.
- For further guidance please contact [email protected]
The NEBRC is a police led non-profit organisation that seeks to educate, inform, and support businesses across the UK on how to protect their business online through good cyber security practices.
Sign up to receive the NEBRC’s free core membership today and stay up to date with the latest cyber security updates and gain access to a wealth of handy resources
The NEBRC is a police led non-profit organisation that seeks to educate, inform, and support businesses across the UK on how to protect their business online through good cyber security practices.
Sign up to receive the NEBRC’s free core membership today and stay up to date with the latest cyber security updates and gain access to a wealth of handy resources