A Carrier Changes Payment Instructions: Verify Before Updating the Payee

Identify the exact change and affected payments

Distinguish a new bank account from a new payee, a factoring arrangement or a correction to an invoice. Record which invoices and future payments the request claims to affect. Do not let a vague instruction to “update our details” replace several fields without a defined scope.

Preserve the existing approved instructions and the request as received. Assign the exception to the person responsible for payee verification, with a deadline tied to the payment run. An operational carrier approval and a finance approval answer different questions; neither should silently complete the other.

Verify outside the changed channel

Contact an authorized representative through independently established details, not the telephone number supplied in the change request. Ask them to confirm the requested change and its scope. The FBI specifically recommends verifying account-number and payment-procedure changes and treating urgency as a warning sign.

If both the phone number and bank instructions changed, resolve the contact question first. Calling the newly supplied number merely gives the same unverified channel another chance to repeat its claim. A saved number is useful only if you establish who answers and whether that person can authorize the change.

Sources: FBI business email compromise guidance

Treat factoring paperwork as a separate review

A notice that a factor should receive payment may affect particular receivables and require examination of contracts, assignments, releases or competing instructions. Route that question to the brokerage’s finance team and appropriate advisers. This guide does not determine which party is legally entitled to a disputed payment.

Confirm the identities and contacts of the carrier and purported factor independently. A matching logo, uploaded letter or successful carrier lookup does not establish the document’s authenticity or the authority of its signer. Do not describe a UCC match as proof that the named secured party is today’s authorized payment recipient; the filing history answers a narrower question.

Make approval traceable

Record who requested the change, who independently confirmed it, how their contact was established, which instructions were approved and when they take effect. Keep sensitive bank details within the controlled payment system rather than copying them into general carrier notes or alert emails.

Consider a second-person approval for payee changes under your finance policy. The reviewer should be able to inspect the confirmation, not just a checkbox saying it happened. After the update, verify that the next scheduled payment uses the approved payee record and that obsolete instructions cannot be selected accidentally.

If funds have already been sent

Contact your financial institution immediately and ask it to contact the receiving institution, as the FBI recommends. Report suspected business email compromise through IC3 and preserve transaction references, timestamps and correspondence. Do not wait for a carrier-record correction before notifying the bank; recovery efforts are time-sensitive and success is not guaranteed.

Coordinate the operational and finance response. A legitimate carrier may also be a victim of impersonation. Explain the specific disputed instruction through a trusted channel, preserve the shipment and payment evidence, and avoid turning an unresolved diversion into an unsupported public accusation against the carrier.

Sources: FBI business email compromise guidance; FMCSA: Broker and carrier fraud and identity theft