Fake PayPal Invoice Scams Threaten Prairie Province Businesses

Key Points:

• Cybercriminals are now posing as legitimate businesses or vendors.
• Winnipeg, Regina, or Saskatoon business owners are facing a cyber battle.
• It may not be considered an accounting scam, but invoicing fraud.
• Scammer targets the Government of the Northwest Territories and disappears.
• Protecting your company from scams is challenging unless you have this resource.

If you’re a Winnipeg, Regina, or Saskatoon business owner, please note fake PayPal invoice scams are starting to threaten our area. Scam artists have figured out how to email a legitimate invoice to your inbox that’s a fake, and they’re hoping you won’t notice.

These annoying cybercriminals want you to believe you owe them money and are posing as a vendor or legitimate business. When you get this email, check your accounting books and a payment request on your PayPal account. Here’s what Mike did in today’s video.

Are Fake PayPal Invoice Scams Financially Harmful?

Unfortunately, they are, and if not careful, Winnipeg, Regina, or Saskatoon business owners will feel the financial impact of these criminals’ illegal efforts and activities. It begins when these scammers set up legitimate and verified PayPal accounts.

Like you or I going into our PayPal accounts to create an invoice, these scam artists can do the same thing, undetected. What’s difficult to spot is the invoice is genuinely from PayPal, but the invoice content is fraudulent.

The only way to reduce financial harm to your company is to review your accounting records thoroughly. Check to see if your business has them listed as a vendor or a company you do business with regularly. Also, please search for a payment request from them in PayPal.

Is This Consider An Accounting Scam?

Fake PayPal invoices are not officially labeled an accounting scams but invoice fraud. The reason is that companies and individuals are often targeted with fake invoices requesting payment. However, the primary victims are businesses and organizations of any size.

Those that practice invoice fraud create invoices that look similar to an existing vendor’s receipt the company has used. Due to its familiarity, the person who pays outstanding invoices may quickly pay the charge. Not realizing they did not owe the money and that the invoice was fake.

Invoice fraud is so prevalent and easy to do. Some of the largest global companies and governments have unknowingly paid fraudulent invoices, only to detect the theft years later. You may recognize these victims of invoice fraud: Google, Facebook, and Kia Motors.

Fake Invoice Sent And Paid By The GNWT

It wasn’t long ago when the NT RCMP Financial Crimes Unit received a fraud complaint from the Government of the Northwest Territories. One of their unsuspecting vendors was the victim of a phishing campaign.

The cybercriminal retrieved an extensive list of invoices from the vendor files. Inside, the scam artist discovered an invoice payable by the GNWT. The scammer created a fake website and email address that looked just like the vendor’s company website.

With these fake credentials, the scammer’s invoice was so convincing that the GNWT unknowingly paid it without question when it arrived. Fortunately, once the payment went through, the scam was uncovered, and monies returned, yet never caught the scammer.

Protect Your Winnipeg Business From Fake PayPal Invoices

If your Winnipeg, Regina, or Saskatoon business uses email, you can quickly receive a fake PayPal invoice in your inbox. Without knowing what to look for and examine, you may pay a cybercriminal’s invoice for monies not owed.

Protecting your company from these scams is challenging; sometimes, it’s too difficult to know if you have a fake invoice. At 365 Technologies, our IT professionals are experts in spotting phishing scams and invoice fraud.

Our Winnipeg IT services team focuses on security and providing our clients with customized, affordable IT solutions to protect their organization. Contact us today to discover how our team can help protect your company from getting scammed.