Fake Bank Unpaid Invoice Scam
Criminals send fake invoices appearing to originate from a victim's bank, claiming fees, loan renewals, or regulatory charges are overdue and must be paid to an external account.
Part of: Fake Unpaid Invoice Scams
Last reviewed: 8 June 2026
The concept of a bank sending an invoice for fees is not inherently unusual — account maintenance fees, international transfer fees, and loan origination charges are real. Scammers exploit this by sending professionally formatted invoices bearing a bank's logo and name, claiming that a specific charge has not been collected and requires manual payment.
The invoice is typically for an amount small enough to seem routine — $25 to $150 — but designed to be paid without careful scrutiny. The payment method requested is always outside the bank's normal system: a wire to a provided account, a card payment on an external website, or a Zelle or bank transfer to a number the scammer provides.
Bank fees that are genuinely owed are collected automatically by the bank from the account balance. No legitimate bank sends an invoice that requires the customer to go outside the banking portal to pay a fee.
How this scam works on the Your Bank brand
An email arrives with the bank's logo, a realistic-looking invoice number, and a breakdown of a 'wire transfer processing fee' or 'annual account review charge' that was 'unable to be collected automatically.' A Pay Invoice button links to a form that collects card details.
In some variants, the email targets small business customers with higher fee amounts — $300 to $1,500 — described as 'commercial account compliance fees' or 'international payment licensing charges.' The invoice references the business's real account number (from a breach or public filing) to add legitimacy.
A physical mail variant sends printed invoices on high-quality paper with the bank's address (taken from the bank's website). Instructions direct the recipient to call a phone number to pay by card — the number connects to a scammer.
Common red flags
- Your bank account shows no corresponding fee deducted or outstanding balance.
- The invoice instructs payment to an account outside your bank's own portal.
- The email or letter arrived without any prior in-app notification or secure message.
- The fee described — commercial compliance charge, regulatory licensing fee — is not a real bank product.
- The Pay Invoice link goes to a site other than your bank's official domain.
- The invoice amount is unusually round and not itemised to a recognisable service.
- A phone number is provided for card payment rather than a secure bank portal.
How to protect yourself
- Check your bank account online — all legitimate fees are deducted automatically and appear in your statement.
- Call your bank on the number on your card if you receive a fee invoice and want to verify it.
- Never pay a bank invoice through an external website or by card over the phone to an inbound caller.
- Educate accounts payable staff to treat any invoice from a bank as high-risk until verified through the bank's own secure channel.
- Enable all digital statement alerts so you see every transaction as it occurs.
How to report it
- Forward phishing emails to your bank's fraud team (find the address on the bank's official website).
- Report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
- Report to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk (UK users).
- File with ic3.gov.
- If a card was charged, dispute through your card issuer immediately.
Frequently asked questions
Do banks ever send invoices for fees that cannot be auto-collected?
In extremely rare circumstances, a bank may send a notice about a fee that could not be collected, but this is communicated through the bank's own secure messaging portal and would already appear as a pending charge in your account. An unsolicited email with an external payment link is not a legitimate process.
What is a 'commercial account compliance fee'?
This is not a real bank product. It is invented terminology used by scammers to make a fabricated fee sound official to business account holders who may be unfamiliar with every charge type.
I received a physical invoice by post. Is that safer?
Physical mail can be forged too. Verify any mailed bank invoice by calling your bank on the number printed on your bank card — not on the invoice itself.