Security, compliance & cyber insurance
How do you protect us from invoice fraud and business email compromise (BEC)?
Business email compromise — where a scammer poses as a supplier or executive to redirect a payment — is one of the costliest scams hitting Australian businesses, and AI has made the emails far more convincing. Defence is both technical (email filtering, MFA, DMARC) and procedural (always verify a bank-detail change or payment by phone on a known number). We put both in place.
Business email compromise (BEC) is now one of the most expensive scams in Australia, costing businesses many millions each year — and in 2026, attackers are using AI to write near-perfect emails that mimic a real supplier's or manager's tone. It's not a virus; it's a con, so it walks straight past basic antivirus.
What BEC looks like
- An email from a "supplier" saying their bank details have changed — pay the next invoice to a new account.
- A message from the "CEO" or "director" urgently requesting a transfer or gift cards.
- A genuine invoice intercepted and altered mid-conversation from a compromised mailbox.
The technical layer
- Advanced email filtering to catch impersonation and suspicious behaviour, not just known-bad senders.
- MFA so mailboxes can't be taken over with a stolen password.
- SPF, DKIM and DMARC so criminals can't spoof your own domain to your clients.
The human layer — which stops most of it
The most effective control costs nothing: out-of-band verification. Any request to change bank details or authorise a large payment must be confirmed by phoning the person on a known number (never the number in the email). Add dual authorisation for payments over a set amount, and short staff training so the team knows the trick.
If it happens
Contact your bank immediately to attempt a payment recall — the recovery window closes fast — and report it via ReportCyber (cyber.gov.au). These controls also align with the ASD Essential Eight. To lock down your email and payment processes, see our email protection service or call (08) 9325 1196.
Still have a question?
Talk to a Perth-based IT specialist — a free, no-obligation chat about your setup.