Invoice fraud
What is invoice fraud?
An invoice arrives that looks exactly like your supplier's, but the bank account belongs to a criminal. You pay it, the real supplier is still owed, and the money is usually gone within hours.
The one rule that stops it
Before paying new bank details, phone the supplier on the number you already have. Never use the number in the email.
By Derick Payne, Rizonetech · Reviewed 31 Oct 2026
Fynbos Freight
debtors@fynbos-freight.example
Tax invoice
INV-20931 · 24 Oct 2026
- Linehaul George to Cape Town, October
- R46,200.00
- VAT
- R6,930.00
- Total due
- R53,130.00
Please note our NEW banking details
Fictional Bank · Acc 1093 2219 9032 · Branch 250655
E4 · CriticalYour records say Fynbos Freight banks with account ending 4417.
How big is the problem in South Africa?
South African banks reported R2.4 billion in digital banking fraud claims in 2025, up 29.2% on about R1.9 billion in 2024 and more than double the R1.09 billion of 2023.
reported client claims in 2025
incidents in 2025, up from 97,547 in 2024
average loss per incident
"In business environments, supplier mandate fraud and business email compromise remained material risks. Criminals redirected payments through fraudulent changes to banking details, falsified supplier information, or compromised communications."
Sources: SABRIC, Annual Crime Statistics 2025, pages 3, 7 and 9: digital banking fraud reported to its nine participating banks, individuals and businesses together. The FBI's IC3 received 24,768 business email compromise complaints in 2025, with reported losses of US$3,046,598,558:2025 IC3 Annual Report. I checked every figure here against the report's own table on 31 October 2026.
Payment document check
Is that proof of payment real?
SABRIC's 2025 report describes victims who were induced to "release goods based on falsified proof of payment" (page 9). These are the signs of editing we check a payment document for:
- Edits saved after the document was created
- Mixed fonts in the amount or account fields
- Dates in the file that disagree with the page
Suspicious
This proof of payment was edited after it was created.
E2The amount uses a different font from the rest of the page.
E3Saved twice: 09:02 and 09:41, after the stated payment time.
Paying a supplier today? Check the invoice first.
Free during launch.