Jun 18
Financial fraud against UK and Irish businesses is not standing still. It is becoming more targeted, more convincing and more dependent on gaps in everyday processes. UK Finance reported £1.28 billion of payment fraud losses in 2025, including £576.4 million of authorised push payment fraud. Business APP losses accounted for £75.6 million of that total.
Cifas also reported more than 444,000 fraud-risk cases to the National Fraud Database in 2025, the highest annual figure it has recorded. For SMEs, the lesson is simple: growth without stronger internal controls can leave payment, payroll and supplier systems exposed.
The most common risks are not always complicated. They often exploit trust, urgency and weak approval routines.
CEO or CFO impersonation happens when a fraudster pretends to be a senior leader and asks finance staff to make an urgent payment. Business email compromise can also involve fake or altered supplier emails asking for payment to a different bank account.
Invoice redirection occurs when genuine supplier invoices are intercepted or copied, with bank details changed. Payroll fraud can involve unauthorised changes to employee bank details. Procurement fraud can involve ghost suppliers, inflated invoices or hidden arrangements between staff and vendors.
AI has made impersonation harder to spot. Cifas has warned that generative tools are helping criminals create more convincing documents, messages and identities. The answer is not panic, but better controls.
Our guide to red flags of financial fraud in SMEs explains the accounting patterns that may appear when something is wrong. Our article on how forensic accounting helps in fraud investigations explains what happens once concerns become serious.
Strong controls work because they stop one person initiating, approving and concealing a transaction alone.
| Control | Risk reduced | Practical approach |
|---|---|---|
| Dual authorisation | Payment fraud and impersonation | Require 2 approvals for payments above a set limit |
| Bank-detail verification | Invoice redirection | Confirm changes by calling a known contact on an existing number |
| Payroll segregation | Payroll fraud | Separate the person changing records from the person approving the run |
| Supplier reconciliation | Ghost suppliers and false invoices | Match statements, purchase orders and ledgers regularly |
| Independent bank reconciliation | Unauthorised payments | Review bank activity by someone not making payments |
| Access-rights reviews | Internal misuse | Remove access for leavers and staff who change roles |
| Out-of-band checks | Deepfake or urgent-payment scams | Verify unusual requests through a separate trusted channel |
These are not just finance-team habits. They are board-level protections. Why internal audit supports business growth and how a quality external audit strengthens trust with lenders and investors explain how independent review supports confidence as a business grows.
If you suspect fraud, act quickly. Contact the bank using official contact details, restrict affected accounts, preserve emails and system logs, and avoid alerting a suspected internal perpetrator before taking professional advice.
A chartered forensic accountant can reconstruct transactions, trace funds and prepare evidence that can be relied on by solicitors, insurers, shareholders or the courts. Our guides on what a forensic accountant does and when you need one, forensic accounting in shareholder and partnership disputes and forensic accounting vs audit explain the difference between investigation, assurance and dispute support.
Where fraud has damaged cash flow, recovery accounts UK support can help stabilise the business while the investigation continues. The article on how recovery accountants help improve cash flow explains the practical side.
Businesses operating across the UK and Ireland should consider legal, tax and banking differences when investigating fraud. Cross-border tax advisors can work alongside forensic specialists where funds, invoices or records cross jurisdictions. Related guidance includes common tax mistakes expats and cross-border businesses make and VAT compliance for businesses operating across the UK to Ireland border.
Good systems also matter. Digital bookkeeping and switching to cloud accounting for SMEs can improve audit trails, access control and timely review.
Fraud prevention depends on practical controls, clear responsibilities and regular review. As northern ireland accountants supporting businesses across the UK and Ireland, SCC combines forensic expertise with practical internal-control advice.
Get in touch with the SCC team for a confidential review of your controls and fraud-risk exposure.
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