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A PDF asking you to change a vendor’s bank details is a request—not proof that the change is genuine. Do not update the vendor record or release a payment until you have confirmed the change with an authorized vendor contact using contact information already on file or independently obtained. Never verify through a phone number, email address, link, or reply path supplied in the request.
How vendor bank-change fraud works
In payment-redirection fraud, a criminal impersonates a supplier or gains access to—or spoofs—business communications. The criminal claims the supplier’s bank details have changed and persuades staff to update the payee record or redirect a pending payment. A request may arrive by email or on forged headed paper, and it can target one payment or future invoices. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network describes criminals impersonating suppliers to redirect future invoice payments to accounts they control (FinCEN guidance).
A convincing logo, signature, letterhead, or PDF layout does not authenticate the request. Forged headed paper is a known tactic, and the recommended safeguard is confirmation through a known, trusted contact—not visual inspection.
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How can I tell if a vendor bank-change letter is fake?
No single visible anomaly proves fraud, and a clean-looking document does not prove legitimacy. Treat these signs as reasons to pause and investigate:
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- New account or financial institution: A change from the details used previously warrants confirmation, but a new account alone is not proof of fraud.
- Urgency, secrecy, or a short deadline: Pressure to act quickly or keep the change confidential can limit time for independent checks. FinCEN identifies urgent or secret language and limited opportunity to authenticate as red flags.
- An unusual sender or channel: Lookalike email addresses, subtle spelling or character changes, or a request arriving through an unfamiliar channel deserve scrutiny. Spoofing and lookalike addresses are described by the Singapore Police Force and the FBI.
- New contact details in the same request: Do not use a replacement phone number or email address included in the letter or message to confirm the bank change. Those details may be fraudulent too, as Bank of Ireland warns.
- A departure from normal payment instructions: Differences in language, timing, amount, beneficiary, or payment pattern should be reviewed in context. FinCEN cautions that no single transactional red flag necessarily establishes suspicious activity.
The Singapore Police Force’s 20 May 2026 advisory reported at least 66 cases and at least S$19 million in losses since 1 January 2026 in Singapore. Those figures concern the advisory’s specified period and jurisdiction; they are not a global estimate.
A supplier sent a PDF with new bank details. What should I do?
- Pause the change and any affected payment. Follow your organization’s procedure to hold the vendor master-data update and payment while the request remains unverified.
- Find a trusted contact independently. Use the vendor contact already stored in your approved records, or obtain contact information from the vendor’s official website independently. Do not use contact details, links, or attachments from the incoming PDF or email.
- Make an outbound confirmation. Call the established number or use another known channel to reach the person authorized to confirm payment instructions. Ask whether they requested the change and confirm the new details. Do not rely on an inbound call or a reply within a potentially compromised email thread. The FBI advises looking up the phone number independently; Bank of Ireland likewise recommends direct contact using trusted details.
- Complete approvals and record the check. Apply your normal approval and separation-of-duties controls. Record who confirmed the request, how you contacted them, and the approval before changing the vendor record.
- Maintain preventive controls. Use clear payment-change procedures and staff awareness. The Singapore Police Force also recommends strong passphrases, two-factor authentication, DMARC, updated antivirus, and timely software patches. These measures can reduce spoofing or account-compromise risk, but they do not replace confirming an individual bank-change request.
The Singapore Police Force advises: “Employees should treat requests to change a vendor’s bank account details, which are generally uncommon, as a red flag and verify before taking other actions.”
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Should I call the phone number on the bank letter?
No. The number in the letter may be controlled by the person trying to redirect the payment. Use contact information that predates the request in your trusted vendor records, or independently source the vendor’s official contact details. Then make an outbound call or use another established channel to reach someone authorized to confirm the change.
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What if we already paid the new account?
- Contact your sending financial institution immediately. Explain that the payment may have been redirected by fraud and ask the bank to contact the receiving institution.
- Report the incident through the appropriate local channel. In the United States, the FBI directs victims of business email compromise to report through IC3. In Ireland, Bank of Ireland advises contacting the bank promptly and reporting suspected fraud to An Garda Síochána. Follow the applicable reporting route in your jurisdiction.
- Preserve the correspondence and payment records. Keep the request, related messages, transaction details, and notes of the steps taken so your bank and investigators can review them.
Recovery is not assured. FinCEN says it has had greater success when unauthorized BEC wires are reported to law enforcement within 24 hours; this is U.S. financial-institution guidance, not a guarantee or a universal reporting deadline.
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Can PDF metadata or a visual check prove the letter is genuine?
No reliable PDF-metadata or visual test is established by the cited guidance for authenticating a vendor bank-change letter. Metadata inspection, a scanner, or PDF software should not be treated as proof of provenance or authenticity. A document-forensics review may be an additional investigative step under your organization’s procedures, but it cannot replace confirmation through a separate trusted channel.
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