Where Can Fraud Hide in the Accounts Payable Process?

When you picture invoice fraud, what do you see?

A fake vendor? An invoice with an obviously altered amount? An email address that's clearly wrong?

Sometimes the warning signs are that obvious.

But what about the times when they're not?

The invoice looks like every other invoice you've received from that vendor. The amount isn't unusual. The email sounds like the person you normally work with. The request itself doesn't seem unreasonable.

Nothing immediately tells you to stop and that's exactly what can make fraud so difficult to catch.

The Invoice May Only Be One Piece of the Story

It's easy to think about fraud as something you should be able to spot on a document.

Look closely enough at the invoice. Check the vendor. Verify the amount. Make sure everything matches.

Those things matter.