Your director calls with a request. Can you pay a supplier today using a new bank account number? You recognise their voice, and the invoice looks correct. But what if your director never made that call? With AI, fraudsters can imitate someone's voice or impersonate someone you know in a video call.
During the webinar ‘AI is changing supplier fraud. Are your controls keeping up?’, Jeremy Leleu from Trustpair and Björn van Raak from Altares Dun & Bradstreet discussed how fraudsters use AI and which controls can help you ensure that your payment reaches the right supplier.
How AI makes supplier fraud more convincing
In an Italian fraud case discussed during the webinar, fraudsters used an AI-generated voice to convince a company to make a payment. Such a request becomes even more convincing when it relates to something happening within your organisation. AI allows fraudsters to quickly gather publicly available information about your company and its suppliers. For example, a recent acquisition could be used as an explanation for a new bank account number. By requesting payment on the same day, they put the recipient under pressure to act quickly.
Training helps employees recognise warning signs such as this time pressure. Having a clear procedure for bank account changes also ensures they know what to do, even when the request appears to come from their director.
You know your supplier. But who owns the bank account?
During onboarding, you establish which company you are doing business with and what risks are associated with it. But what if that supplier later requests a change to its bank account number? You need to know whether the new account belongs to the same legal entity.
During the webinar, Björn van Raak shared an example of two companies with the same name in different countries. The bank account provided was registered to one company, while the contract had been signed with the other. If you only check the company name, you risk transferring money to a different party.
Use the country of registration and registration number to identify your contractual partner. Then verify whether the new bank account belongs to that company. Do your company records also show unusual changes, such as several board changes within a short period? This could be a reason to ask additional questions before approving the change.
Interesting read: Your supplier database is not what you think it is: that could cost you money
How up to date is your supplier data?
A supplier's address, director, owner or bank account can change after onboarding. Research presented by Trustpair during the webinar showed that 77% of respondents trusted their own data. At the same time, around two-thirds did not continuously monitor their supplier data.
Imagine that Finance sees a new bank account number in the ERP system and assumes Procurement has already verified it. Procurement, in turn, assumes Finance has carried out the check. As a result, a payment could be approved while verification is still pending. That is why it is important to agree on which changes need to be monitored, who reviews them and when data should be checked again.
Data quality also matters when using AI for procurement decisions. Up-to-date information and well-integrated systems provide the foundation for AI readiness. According to the 2026 Annual ProcureCon CPO Report 54% of organisations that are not yet fully prepared for AI in procurement identify data quality and system integration as barriers.
Interesting read: Preventing supplier fraud with AI and reliable data
Five steps to prevent supplier fraud
Make supplier verification part of your payment process. This ensures that Finance and Procurement know which checks are required before approving a change or releasing a payment.
- Identify your contractual partner. Compare the details in the request with reliable company information. If company names are similar, also check the country of registration and registration number.
- Verify new bank details before approval. Check whether the account belongs to your contractual partner. Confirm the request through a contact channel you already know, such as the telephone number in your supplier database.
- Monitor relevant changes. Track changes in company information, ownership and risk profiles. Determine which signals should trigger a new verification or supplier assessment.
- Assign clear responsibilities. Define who manages supplier data, who verifies bank account changes and who releases payments. Make sure urgent requests go through the same agreed checks.
- Document your decisions. Record which details were checked, who performed the verification and why the change or payment was approved. This allows you to reconstruct the decision afterwards.
By automating recurring checks and monitoring, employees can focus on changes and irregularities that require further investigation.
From supplier information to better-controlled payments
With business data from Altares Dun & Bradstreet, you can establish which supplier you are doing business with and assess the associated business risks. Trustpair helps you verify whether the bank account belongs to that supplier. The integration brings both checks together in your payment process, from supplier onboarding to the verification of a new bank account number.
Would you like to know how the integration fits into your payment process? Contact us to discuss the possibilities.
