Invoice Redirection Fraud
A scam in which fraudsters impersonate a supplier or business contact to change payment details on an invoice, diverting funds to the attacker's account.
Also known as: mandate fraud, payment diversion fraud, supplier impersonation fraud
Last reviewed: 10 June 2026
Invoice redirection fraud — sometimes called mandate fraud or payment diversion fraud — typically begins with a message to a victim's finance team claiming that a supplier has changed its bank details. The message may arrive by email, letter, or phone call and is often timed to coincide with a large pending payment.
Victims who update their records and pay the new account lose the funds to the fraudster, while the genuine supplier goes unpaid and is often unaware until they chase the outstanding invoice. Both businesses and consumers making large payments (e.g., property purchases) are targeted.
Always verify any request to change payment details by calling the supplier on a number obtained independently — not a number provided in the suspicious message.
Examples
- A building firm receives a letter on what appears to be their architect's letterhead asking them to update direct-debit details; the new account belongs to a scammer.
- Homebuyers receive an email that appears to come from their solicitor with updated bank details for the completion payment.