Businesses, charities and individuals should be wary of fraudulent emails which appear to be from trusted suppliers or companies advising that their bank account details have changed.

The recipient is asked to make changes to a direct debit, standing order or bank transfer mandate in order to direct future payments to a new bank account, which is often run by fraudsters.

These requests often appear legitimate – as well as emails, fraudsters can send genuine-looking letters or make phone calls impersonating a genuine supplier.

The Government Counter Fraud Function has published advice on recognising and dealing with mandate fraud during the COVID-19 outbreak. Read the advice here

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What to do:

• Confirm requests for changes to payment details with the person or company who has supposedly sent them, using contact information that you know to be correct.
• Always question unexpected emails which request payment details or changes and if in doubt, get a second opinion from a colleague or manager
• Report bank mandate crimes to Police Scotland on 101

Report scam calls and texts to
Advice Direct Scotland

Report scam emails to the National Cyber Security Centre’s
Suspicious Email Reporting Service