Acquisition fraud costs entrepreneurs hundreds and hundreds of millions of euros per year. Acquisition fraud among other things implies that invoices sent invoices for products or services that never have and will be delivered.
Acquisition fraud using fake invoices is part of the old school paper world. Therefore, as digitization and e-invoicing increases, the number of fake (e-) invoices will increase correspondingly.
8 tips to avoid paying fake (e)invoices
The following tips will help you prevent to pay fake invoices
- Check the business information on the invoice
When in doubt, check the business data of the so called supplier on the Internet and on websites that fight against acquisition fraud.
- Verify billing information with transportation data
Make sure the company information in the invoice matches, for example, the e-mail address. Do not rely on the data in invoice or the message. Compare the information. View the address of the claimed supplier meticulously. Sometimes, a dash, a letter or
other initial more or less can make all the difference. - Check the company name with the content data
Are your operation mainly based in your own country and do you receive a foreign invoice? Be aware. Does the business name correspond with the subscription of the account number?
- Create a white-list/black-list
Keep track of suppliers that received your consent to send you an electronic invoice.
- Price/performance analysis
Is the price mentioned in the invoice reasonably proportioned to the products or services that have been claimed? When in doubt, contact the responsible or the contact person.
- Invoice matching: contracts and/or purchase orders
Does your organisation use an administration with purchasing orders? Check whether a purchase order has been issued that corresponds with the invoice.
- Take your time…
Sometimes the lack of time is used to put you under pressure to quickly pay an invoice. It is mentioned that otherwise a subscription ends, or that the competitor with "something" compromises, with "consequences". Don't take the bait and take your time.
- …to read through the small print carefully
Literally look for the small print (the general terms and conditions). In general, the smaller the print or the more difficult to discover, the more important it is to sift through the information (and the greater the negative consequences can be if you don’t).