Boss impersonation fraud is the newest type of payment fraud to hit the business world. In this episode, AP Now’s Mary Schaeffer explains exactly how this fraud works and then shares advice from the FBI on how to protect your organization against it.

This fraud targets any employee although to date the bulk of the targets are in accounting and HR. It is a variation of Business Email Compromise (BEC) fraud. With this fraud, the crook impersonates the boss and sends either an email or text to the employee instructing them to purchase gift cards. Once the employee has the gift cards, they are instructed to scratch off the back covering. They then are either asked to share the data or send the data to the crooks. The fraudsters then use this information to cash in the gift cards. Once the cards are damaged, they cannot be returned.

This episode also contains advice from the FBI on how to ensure your employees can identify such phony request. Listeners are asked to share this information with their staff and anyone who might be targeted to help prevent further losses, which have been exploding.

Host: Mary Schaeffer (www.ap-now.com)

Sponsor: Stampli (www.stampli.com/APNow)

Credit: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com