ITIC circular: Changes to bank details

ITIC has previously issued circulars warning members of fraudulent messages altering bank details. Unfortunately ITIC has continued to receive reports of these frauds and accordingly is reminding members to be vigilant.

These frauds occur when a party that is due to receive an invoice from a genuine supplier instead receives a message from fraudsters, containing either a fake invoice showing the fraudsters bank details or simply a message advising that the funds should be paid to another bank account for a reason e.g. sanctions or an audit. 

ITIC continues to advise anyone receiving a message changing account details to view it with suspicion and to take appropriate steps to independently verify the instructions. 

We would recommend making a phone call to the intended recipient of funds to check if the bank details are genuine. You should always use a telephone number that is already known to you or that is on a publicly available source e.g. a website. You should never use the phone number in the e-mail or on the invoice because if it is fraudulent the chances are the telephone number will be that of the fraudsters. 

We are aware that some fraudsters are now pre-empting these phone call checks by calling the victim directly to confirm the fake bank details are valid. Therefore, even if you receive such a call, you should still continue to make your own outgoing call to check any changes to bank details are genuine. 

Remember – any change to bank details is a red flag warning. You should never pay to any account without checking it is valid first.