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Lesson 2: Business email compromise and bank-detail changes

About 10 minutes

Business email compromise (BEC) is a fraud in which someone impersonates a trusted contact by email to redirect a payment. It affects companies of every size, in every country. The most common pattern is simple: you receive an email that looks like it comes from your partner, saying their bank details have changed.

Why it matters

A single payment sent to the wrong account may never be recovered. One phone call to a number you already have can prevent it.

Warning signs:

  • A request to change bank details, especially close to a payment date.

  • Urgency or pressure: "Please pay today," "the old account is frozen," "keep this confidential."

  • A look-alike email address. Check each character: an extra letter, a swapped letter, or a different ending such as ".co" instead of ".com".

  • A new account in a different name or country from the partner's usual account.

  • A change in writing style, tone or signature.

  • A request to move the conversation to a new email address or phone number.

The rule: never act on a change of bank details sent only by email or message. Call your partner on a phone number you already have on file, not one given in the new message. Confirm the change with a person you know.

Example: a phone script for confirming bank details.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Ibrahim. This is Thomas from Great Plains

Equipment. I hope you are well.

We received an email asking us to send payment to a new bank account. As part of our standard process, I am calling to confirm this with you directly before we make any change.

Could you confirm whether your company sent this request?"

**Watch out:** If the partner did not send the request, do not reply to the suspicious email. Alert your partner, your bank and your IT support, and keep all records. Lesson 4 covers reporting.

Protect your own side too. Fraudsters also impersonate U.S. exporters to redirect buyer payments. Tell your partners at the start how you will communicate bank details, and that you will never change them by email alone. This helps them protect themselves from someone posing as you.

Great Plains Equipment is a fictional company used for illustration.

From DealDialect (dealdialect.com) by Ayomide Adeyeye, licensed CC BY 4.0.