Understand business email compromise (BEC)

BEC is the most expensive scam for Australian businesses. Criminals impersonate a supplier or executive to redirect a payment.

1. Know the pattern: an email asks you to pay an invoice, change bank details, or buy gift cards urgently and quietly.
2. Be alert to a real account that’s been taken over — the email can come from a genuine, hacked address.
3. Treat any change of bank or payment details as high-risk, no matter who appears to be asking.
4. Always verify the request by phone using a number you already have on file — never the one in the email.
5. Watch for pressure tactics: secrecy, urgency, and ’I’m in a meeting, just handle it’.
6. Agree a verification rule for your team in advance so confirming a payment is routine, not awkward.