Suffolk school rejects fraudulent invoice for unordered notebooks

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 5 Nov, 15:44 · Archive

A Suffolk school avoided an invoice fraud scam after staff spotted a bogus bill for notebooks never ordered.

A Suffolk school has avoided being defrauded after staff spotted a suspicious invoice demanding payment for goods they had never ordered. Suffolk Trading Standards said the school received an invoice through the post for 'one case of notebooks', despite the items neither being ordered nor delivered. The company behind the invoice provided an address in London, but the letter had been posted from the USA and all billing information was in dollars. Alert members of staff realised something was wrong and did not make a payment.

Suffolk Trading Standards is now warning others to be vigilant about invoice fraud, where criminals attempt to trick individuals or organisations into paying bogus bills or divert legitimate payments into accounts they control. Fraudsters can impersonate genuine suppliers, intercept emails or send convincing-looking invoices in an attempt to secure payments. Education is among the three UK sectors most affected by invoice fraud, according to Report Fraud.

People are urged to check invoices carefully and verify any changes to payment or bank details with suppliers using a previously trusted phone number.

How it is being reported

• Fraudsters target Suffolk school in new scamSuffolk Trading Standards warns schools about invoice fraud after staff rejected a bogus notebook bill posted from the USA for goods never ordered.East Anglian Daily Times · 5 Nov, 10:23
• Fraudsters target Suffolk school in new scamSuffolk Trading Standards warns schools about invoice fraud after staff rejected a bogus notebook bill posted from the USA for goods never ordered.Ipswich Star · 5 Nov, 10:23

In this story: Suffolk Trading Standards · Suffolk · Report Fraud

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