AP Fraud: When Familiar Looks Legitimate

The vendor name is familiar. The email looks like the last dozen they sent. This time, they ask you to update banking details before the next payment.

It sounds straightforward. But before anyone makes the change, how does your team confirm that the request actually came from the vendor?

The Yooz 2026 Payment Fraud Readiness Survey suggests that familiarity can lead people to skip that check. In a survey conducted through Pollfish among 750 U.S. finance, accounting, and accounts payable professionals, 49% said they had let an unusual payment request move forward without verification, or almost did, because it came from a trusted person or familiar email address.

For AP teams, that’s a reason to examine what happens between recognizing the sender and approving the request. A familiar name...