If you are paying a bill or invoice that has been sent via email, it should be studied for inconsistencies to ensure it is from the correct person this is good practice to protect yourself from email or invoice fraud.
Receiving payment details for the very first time
Check the email address of the sender. Look for small differences in the email address, like .org changing to .co.uk or a letter added or taken away in an email:
Johnsmith86@hotmail.com
Johnsmiith86@hotmail.com
Both look the exact same but are completely different.
Always double-check the details with the sender.
If it is a company, then call the main contact number never the number in the email received and simply ask them to confirm what has been received.
If the person or company emailed the information to you after they received it from another party, you must tell them to go back and confirm that the information is legitimately using the same method above.
Do not make that payment unless you are certain that it has been double-checked.
Receiving an email about a change of payment details
This is highly suspicious as it is not often that companies or people change bank details, of course, it does happen, and the time spent to double-check is more than worth the peace of mind.
Simply follow the instructions above by checking the email received for inconsistencies, look for phone numbers that do not match the person or company you are dealing with. Then follow the process of calling the source directly to confirm the legitimacy of the email.
If the person or company emailed the information to you after they received it from another party, you must tell them to go back and confirm that the information is legitimately using the same method above.
Do not make that payment unless you are certain that it has been double-checked.