Payment fraud prevention for businesses without a finance team

This single rule stops the most common and most expensive fraud. If an email asks you to pay a different account, you call the vendor on a number you already had before anything changes.

For each regular vendor, keep their verified phone number and the last 4 digits of the account you pay, taken from an invoice you know is genuine. When something changes, you have a reference to compare against.

Pick a threshold, say $5,000. Above it, a second person approves, or you run the email through a check before paying. In a one-person business, the second pair of eyes can be a tool or your bookkeeper.

1. 1Has the bank account changed since the last payment?
2. 2Is the sender's address exactly the vendor's usual one?
3. 3Would a reply go to the same address it came from?
4. 4Is the email pushing you to hurry or to stay quiet?
5. 5If any answer is worrying: call before you pay, and write down the call.

If a payment ever goes wrong, a dated record showing you checked the email and called the vendor protects you, your client relationship and, for bookkeepers, your reputation.