Friday 20th March, 2015

Contractor Speller Metcalfe warns of a new wave of invoice fraud sweeping the industry as fraudsters target two of the firm's clients to trick them into paying funds into false bank accounts.

The builder said that it wanted to issue the warning so that other firms are made aware of the new rise in attacks, and remain vigilant.

A spokesman for Speller Metcalfe warned that the latest attempts are becoming more sophisticated, using company logos and even project names to make them seem more realistic.

Speller Metcalfe and another external partner firm were victims of a similar attack last summer.

The spokesman said: “The first letter sent to a client in Cheltenham contained a few errors but was passable insofar as our client had changed the bank details to those of the fraudulent request and was about to pay out.

“It was only when Speller Metcalfe chased payment and the client confirmed they would send payment to the new bank details that the fraud was identified.”

He said that the second attack proved more sophisticated. A letter was received by a Birmingham based client attached to an email, which would have read almost perfectly to someone external to Speller Metcalfe.

It came with a fake letterhead, professional approach and tone and forged signature.

Follow-up phone calls were even made to make sure they had received the letter and to confirm the change of account details.

Luckily for Speller Metcalfe, an individual in the AP department flagged up an error in the address on the letter with the finance director – just before the exchange of a significant sum.

Fortunately in this instance no money was lost, and the matter was handed over to the police.