What to Do When You Receive an Unexpected Invoice

You open your email and there is an invoice from a company you do not recognise, or maybe you do recognise the name but you were not expecting a bill. It asks for payment within 14 days and includes bank details. Your instinct might be to pay it quickly to avoid a late fee, but that instinct is exactly what scammers rely on.

Invoice fraud is one of the most common types of business and personal fraud in the UK. Action Fraud receives thousands of reports each year from people who paid invoices that turned out to be fake. The amounts are often just plausible enough that people pay without questioning them.

Step 1: Do Not Pay Immediately

This is the most important rule. No legitimate company will object to you taking a day to verify an invoice before paying. If someone is pressuring you to pay right now, that is itself a red flag. Take a breath and start checking.

Step 2: Check Your Records

Look at whether you have any record of the service or product the invoice relates to. Check your emails, contracts, and purchase orders. If you run a business, ask your team if anyone authorised the work. An invoice for something nobody ordered is either a mistake or a scam.

Step 3: Verify the Sender

Do not use the contact details on the invoice itself. If it is from a company you have dealt with before, look up their details independently and call them directly. Ask them to confirm whether they sent the invoice and whether the bank details on it are correct.

This matters because a common scam technique is to intercept a genuine invoice and change the bank details. The invoice looks real, references a real job, and comes from what appears to be a real supplier. The only difference is that the money goes to the scammer's account instead.

Step 4: Look for Warning Signs

• Slightly different email addresses. Instead of accounts@supplier.co.uk, it might come from accounts@suppIier.co.uk (with a capital I instead of an L).
• Urgency or threats. "Pay within 24 hours to avoid legal action" is almost always a scam tactic.
• Changed bank details. If a regular supplier suddenly asks you to pay into a different account, verify it by phone before sending any money.
• Vague descriptions. Legitimate invoices typically reference specific work, dates, or order numbers. Generic descriptions like "services rendered" without detail should raise questions.
• No VAT number. If the invoice includes VAT but there is no VAT registration number, that is a concern.

Step 5: Keep a Record

Whether the invoice turns out to be legitimate or not, keep a record of it. If it is real, you need it for your accounts. If it is a scam, keeping it could help if you need to report it to Action Fraud or if the same scam targets you again.

Having all your invoices stored in one place, such as Orlo, makes it much easier to cross-reference an unexpected invoice against your existing records. If you can quickly see every invoice a supplier has sent you, spotting an anomaly becomes straightforward.

When in Doubt

If something feels off, trust that feeling. Contact the company directly using independently verified details. If you believe you have received a fraudulent invoice, report it to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk. The few minutes spent checking could save you thousands.