The Belgian banks are working on a system against invoice fraud that checks whether the name entered corresponds to the account number on a transfer. Bank federation Febelfin reports this.
In invoice fraud, scammers intercept a real invoice and change the supplier’s account number to that of a so-called “money mule”. They then withdraw the money and disappear with it.
The fraud is possible because banks only look at the account number on a transfer, and not at the name that is entered with it. The banks are currently unable to detect if the account number does not match the supplier to whom the client intends to pay, Febelfin says.
This is about to change with the IBAN name check that the banks are working on. When entering a transfer, the bank will then check whether the account number and the name of the beneficiary match. If not, the bank will send out a warning, after which the transferor can confirm the transaction after checking.
When the name check will be there, the sector federation does not say. “We are still in the early stages. It is difficult to give a concrete timing right now,” said spokeswoman Isabelle Marchand. It is a major operation, she says.
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