Verify the three facts that control the payment
A request is not ready to pay until identity, purpose, and destination have each been confirmed independently.
Requester
Use a contract, directory, statement, or saved contact to reach the person or organization outside the request.
Purpose
Confirm what the payment is for, the correct amount, the approval path, and whether the timing makes sense.
Destination
Treat new account details, a new payment method, or a supposed safe account as a material change.
Verify three facts independently: who is asking, what obligation or purpose exists, and where the money will go. Confirming only the person's name does not validate a new account, wallet, payment link, or gift-card request. A familiar thread can be compromised and an invoice can contain genuine details copied from earlier correspondence.
Organizations should make delay normal by documenting who can approve new payees and changed destinations. Families can use the same idea with a trusted contact for urgent requests. If payment was sent, contact the bank, card issuer, payment app, transfer service, gift-card issuer, or exchange immediately through its known channel and keep receipts and case references.
- Treat changed payment instructions as a new transaction.
- Use records you already hold to verify the request.
- Begin provider recovery immediately after a suspected transfer.
Supplier account change
An email from a familiar supplier says its bank has changed. Accounts staff call the number on the signed supplier record, not the number in the email. The supplier confirms its mailbox was compromised and no account change was requested.
Payment request verification checklist
Pause the transaction and complete the checks through known records. For organizations, preserve the second approval for changed payees.
Why identity, purpose, and destination all need verification
- A correct signature block or prior invoice detail may have come from a compromised mailbox.
- Gift cards, cryptocurrency, cash couriers, and transfers described as a way to protect money are major warning signs.
- Verification works only when staff and family members are allowed to slow down a request from an apparent authority figure.
Evidence basis: The cited sources support the checks above. They do not replace current provider, property, workplace, authority, or local requirements. Federal Trade Commission: How to Avoid a Scam and Federal Trade Commission: What To Do if You Were Scammed.
Payment deadlines and authorization limits
Banks, payment services, employers, and contracts may impose reporting or approval deadlines. Use a known channel immediately after a suspected transfer and do not assume that a sent payment can always be reversed.