An email correctly names your table model, chair fabric and delivery city, then asks you to pay a different bank account. Those accurate details do not authenticate the instruction. Treat the changed payment destination as a separate request requiring independent verification.
Pause the changed instruction and preserve the message
Do not replace the vendor master record or release a payment solely from the new email or chat. Preserve the original request and attachments for your organization’s finance or security review. A familiar display name, signature image or existing conversation thread is not enough.
The FBI explains business email compromise as fraudulent requests that can appear to come from a known source. Its guidance calls for verifying changes in account numbers or payment procedures and using independently located contact information.
Use a contact established before the request arrived
Call the supplier through a previously verified contact route or an independently established company number. Do not use a telephone number or link supplied only in the change request. If your normal contact is unavailable, follow the finance team’s escalation process rather than treating urgency as verification.
The Nordic bamboo restaurant table has a softened rectangular top and tapered legs; the ivory upholstered dining chair has a tall padded back and armless bamboo frame. A message may accurately describe both items because it has obtained genuine order correspondence. Product familiarity helps identify the order, not the person authorized to change its payment destination.
| Check | Evidence to retain | Insufficient by itself |
|---|---|---|
| Independent contact | Previously verified number and callback result | Number in the new email |
| Seller identity | Authorized confirmation for the selling entity | Familiar logo or correct product name |
| Internal authorization | Verifier and finance approval record | Urgent deadline or chat acknowledgment |
| Potential incident | Bank contact and incident record | Assumption the transfer can be recalled |
Record the verification and separate it from payment approval
Ask the authorized supplier contact to confirm whether a change was requested, which legal selling entity and order it concerns, and how formal confirmation will be supplied through the agreed process. Finance staff should compare the proposed beneficiary details with the confirmed seller identity and investigate any mismatch.
Keep the callback record, source of the contact number, verifier, date and supporting confirmation in a restricted payment file. Apply your organization’s approval controls before updating records. Do not put full bank details into a public project report, and do not send passwords or one-time codes to validate the request.
Escalate a suspected transfer immediately
If funds may already have been sent to a fraudulent destination, contact your financial institution immediately through a trusted route and follow the applicable incident-reporting process. The FBI advises immediate contact with the financial institution and reporting to IC3 for its reporting route. That is not a promise that a transfer can be recovered.
For a furniture order enquiry, keep the furniture scope and commercial contact identities clear from the outset. The quotation brief guide helps identify the underlying items. Payment verification should stay with the authorized finance and security contacts, separate from design approval.