What to do against ghost invoices?
A fake invoice, ghost note or ghost invoice is an invoice for goods or services that have never been delivered, sent by scammers. These scammers often send them with thousands at the same time, which they hope companies will not check and pay for. If you pay, the scammer is lucky, but if you do not, you will never hear anything about it again. What tricks do they use and what can you do about them?
Difference with acquisition fraud and phishing
Acquisition fraud is often associated with phantom invoices, but in this form of fraud the scammer does something (even if it is worthless). With a ghost invoice it is only an invoice. There is therefore no delivery of goods or products. Phantom invoices are also different to phishing. With phishing, for example, e-mails from banks are imitated, in the hope that the reader passes on his data, after which the scammers can use it to withdraw money or buy products.
What tricks are used?
For ghost notes, it is often about amounts less than 250 euros. Phishing, acquisition fraud and ghost invoices have in common that they are tricks. Counting amounts that are often paid without checking and fast, especially for large companies. Invoices are often imitated in such a way that it looks as if they come from large banks such as the Rabobank or bodies such as the Chamber of Commerce. On the invoice they use the logo and other such items that make it seem real. If you have properly studied the invoice, you can see that it is fake. When you pay the ghost invoice, you have a big chance that they will send the ghost invoice again. You can be sure that you can not reclaim the money from the paid ghost invoice.
What can I do about it?
The simplest thing you can do is check invoices before you pay them, especially if they come from suppliers that you do not know. If you do know the supplier, but the amount is unknown to you, you can always check the invoice with your colleagues. Always read the lower case to find out if it is a real invoice. You can also check the ghost invoice on the Fraud Help Desk . Working with assignment numbers is also a solution. It means that your employees must request an order number during purchasing. The supplier must then place this number on his invoice. This allows you to easily have an invoice checked by the employee. Remember that a scammer can gamble an order number when you work with the obvious numbers.
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