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The 3 Controls That Prevent Payment Fraud
Payment fraud rarely looks like a crime.
It looks like a normal business day.
An invoice arrives.
A vendor requests updated banking information.
A familiar contact asks for payment to be expedited.
The email address looks right.
The tone sounds normal.
The request feels routine.
The money is sent.
And by the time someone realizes the mistake, it’s already sitting in another country.
Most business payment fraud follows a predictable chain of events:
An email account gets compromised — yours or a vendor’s.
The attacker monitors conversations quietly.
They wait for a moment involving payment.
They insert new wire instructions or bank details.
The payment is processed without secondary verification.
No malware alert.
No dramatic shutdown.
Just a silent transfer.
The good news is this:
Fraud succeeds because of gaps in process — not because attackers are unstoppable.
Here are the three controls that consistently stop it.
1. Hardened Email Account Security
Almost all payment fraud begins with email compromise.
Attackers gain access by:
Phishing login credentials
Reusing passwords from other breaches
Exploiting weak or improperly configured MFA
Guessing simple passwords
Once inside, they don’t immediately act.
They observe.
They read past conversations.
They study tone.
They learn vendor relationships.
Then they strike when a legitimate payment thread appears.
To prevent this, email accounts must have:
-Enforced multi-factor authentication with number matching
-Conditional access policies (blocking suspicious locations)
-Login anomaly detection
-Password complexity and rotation standards
-Immediate alerting on new device logins
If attackers cannot access email, they cannot impersonate trusted contacts.
That eliminates most fraud at its source.
2. Structured Payment Change Verification Policies
This is where many businesses fail.
They rely on email to confirm financial changes.
That’s exactly what attackers exploit.
A proper control looks like this:
Any request to change:
Bank account numbers
ACH details
Wire instructions
Mailing addresses for checks
Must be verified outside of email.
That means:
Call the vendor using a phone number already on file.
Not the number provided in the request.
Require dual approval internally.
Document the verification process.
No exceptions.
Even if the email looks urgent.
Even if it appears to come from leadership.
Payment fraud thrives on urgency and familiarity.
Formal verification removes both.
3. Real-Time Financial and Account Monitoring
Even with strong email security and verification processes, layered protection matters.
Monitoring systems should flag:
Large transfers outside normal patterns
First-time payments to new accounts
Sudden changes in vendor banking information
Login activity from unusual locations
Multiple failed login attempts
The earlier suspicious activity is detected, the greater the chance of recovery.
Financial institutions sometimes can recall transfers — but only if notified immediately.
Minutes matter.
Monitoring reduces the time between compromise and response.
That window determines whether loss is avoided or permanent.
The Deeper Reality
Most business owners assume fraud requires:
Advanced hacking
Complex software attacks
Highly technical intrusion
In reality, most payment fraud is social engineering combined with access to email.
It exploits trust, routine, and speed.
The risk is not incompetence.
It’s process gaps.
One compromised inbox should never be enough to redirect thousands of dollars.
If it is, the issue isn’t the employee.
It’s the lack of layered controls.
A Practical Self-Assessment
Ask yourself:
If a vendor emailed you today requesting new wire instructions:
• Is there a written policy requiring phone verification?
• Is dual approval required before funds move?
• Would unusual login activity be flagged immediately?
• Would you know if someone had been reading email conversations for weeks?
If those answers are unclear, the exposure isn’t theoretical.
It’s procedural.
Payment fraud prevention isn’t about fear.
It’s about removing single points of failure.
And most businesses don’t realize how many they have.