BaptistSec · Free companion payment-check aid · v1.0.1 · Sources checked 7 October 2026

Before you change bank details

Pause a payment to a supplier you have not paid before, or one using changed bank details until your own checks are done.

This is for the person checking a supplier invoice or payment request, not an automatic fraud detector. Keep it beside your own invoice and payment system.

Do not enter bank details here. There are no text-entry fields. Your choices stay in this open page only and disappear when you reload or close it. No choices are stored or sent. Source links open external websites only when you choose them.

The four checks

Choose the answer that describes what you actually did. "Yes" is a record of your answer, not evidence that the check succeeded.

1. Check your own records

Is this an expected invoice for goods or work your business agreed to buy? Compare the supplier, amount, reference and payment details with your trusted records. A familiar logo or correct email address is not proof.

2. Make the call yourself

When paying a supplier you have not paid before, or changing bank details, call the supplier using a trusted number you already held before this request. Do not use a number or link supplied in the request. An incoming call, even with a familiar caller ID, is not independent confirmation.

3. Confirm the details on that call

Ask your known supplier contact to read back the account name, sort code and account number through your approved process. Compare them privately with the request. Do not type them into this checklist. If the supplier is busy, arrange to call them back yourself.

4. Follow your payment approval process

Record who made the checks, when, which trusted contact route was used and any difference in your own protected records. Use any second-person approval your business requires. If a bank name check does not match, stop and resolve it. A match alone does not prove the request is genuine.

This aid records steps you say you took. It does not inspect the invoice, verify a person or account, authorise a payment or guarantee that fraud is absent. A genuine email account or a check of an email's technical information cannot prove that a payment request is genuine.

If you cannot verify the request

Keep the payment on hold and tell your business owner or payment lead. Do not replace a trusted-number call with a reply to the email, a call to a number in the request, an incoming callback or a bank name match. If you have no trusted contact route, arrange one independently before continuing. No deadline or senior-sounding request removes that check.

A call script

"I am calling on the number we already hold to check a payment request. Did you send it? Please confirm the invoice reference and amount, and read back the payment details through our agreed process. We will keep it on hold until our checks and approval are done."

If money was already sent

If money may already have gone to a fraudster, contact your bank immediately using its official app or a trusted number, such as the one on your card or statement. Ask about stopping or recovering the payment; recovery is not guaranteed. Tell your business owner or payment lead and preserve the request and payment records. In England, Wales or Northern Ireland, report fraud to Report Fraud. In Scotland, report to Police Scotland on 101. If accounts or personal data may also be affected, follow your incident plan and current official guidance.

Sources and limits

General guidance, not legal or financial advice. Not endorsed by the organisations below. Use your bank's current guidance and your own payment controls. This aid cannot replace them.