Invoice Scams

Common scenario

A small office receives an invoice for a modest annual listing fee. The document uses familiar business words and says payment is overdue, but no one remembers approving the service. The amount is low enough that it could be paid quickly unless someone pauses to check it.

Warning signs

• The invoice is for a service, listing, renewal, or subscription no one clearly remembers approving.
• The vendor name looks similar to a real vendor but does not exactly match internal records.
• The amount is small enough that staff might treat it as routine.
• The message uses overdue language, late fees, or account suspension pressure.
• The payment link, QR code, mailing address, or payment method is new.
• The invoice has vague wording, unclear service dates, or a generic description.
• The sender discourages review, forwarding, or calling through normal business channels.

Questions to ask

• Do we recognize this vendor from our own records?
• Can we match the invoice to approved work, an order, a renewal, or a known subscription?
• Is the payment destination the same one we have used before?
• Did the person who manages this service expect this bill?
• Is the urgency part of normal terms or only pressure in the message?
• Can a second approved person review this before payment?

Verification workflow

• Pause the payment until the invoice is matched to known business activity.
• Compare the vendor name, amount, description, and payment destination with internal records.
• Ask the internal person who manages the service whether the bill was expected.
• Use a known channel already in business records if vendor confirmation is needed.
• Record the review result in simple internal notes.
• Pay only through the normal payment process after approval.

Example internal policy

• No invoice is paid from a message alone.
• Invoices must match approved work, a known vendor, or a documented business need.
• New payment destinations require extra review.
• Small invoices follow the same pause-and-check habit as large invoices.
• Staff may pause any invoice without blame when something feels unusual.

What not to do

• Do not pay because the amount seems too small to question.
• Do not click a payment link before the invoice is checked.
• Do not use contact details supplied only inside the suspicious message.
• Do not send business, customer, banking, tax, login, or private document information in response.
• Do not skip review because the invoice says overdue or final notice.
• Do not confront the sender or accuse them directly.

If something already happened

• Pause any related payments until the request is reviewed.
• Notify the owner, bookkeeper, or approved internal reviewer.
• Save the message, invoice copy, date, general amount category, and review notes in the normal business record system.
• Use known channels to check whether a real vendor expected payment.
• Review recent similar invoices for the same vendor name, service type, or payment destination.
• Update the payment checklist if the request revealed a weak approval step.