Glossary / Fraud & scams
Supplier Impersonation
Supplier impersonation is a scam where a fraudster pretends to be a legitimate supplier, using lookalike emails, letterhead, or phone calls, to redirect payments or submit fake invoices.
How does supplier impersonation work?
Supplier impersonation is the art of looking like a business you already trust. The fraudster copies a real supplier’s branding, sets up a lookalike email domain, replicates letterhead, or even calls posing as the accounts team, then uses that disguise to submit fake invoices or request a change of bank details. Unlike vendor email compromise, the supplier’s own systems are untouched; the criminal simply mimics them from the outside. A recognisable Australian example is a domain such as “supplies-co.com.au” replacing the genuine “suppliesco.com.au,” sending an invoice that matches your real supplier closely enough that accounts payable pays it.
Why it matters for Australian finance teams
Impersonation targets the judgement of your staff rather than any software flaw, which makes it hard to defend with technical controls alone. The ACCC’s Scamwatch and the National Anti-Scam Centre report impersonation as a leading tactic behind payment redirection losses for Australian businesses. For finance teams, a convincing lookalike can defeat a manual callback if the fraudster also supplies a fake contact number, turning your own verification step into part of the scam.
How ezyshield helps
ezyshield verifies identity against authoritative sources rather than appearances. Before money moves, it confirms the person, the business through ABN and ASIC records, and that the bank account genuinely belongs to the real supplier, so a lookalike domain or forged letterhead cannot pass as the genuine party. Any change of details triggers re-verification, and every check is recorded in an append-only audit trail that is never edited or deleted. See how it works and supplier verification in Australia.
Also known as: vendor impersonation, supplier spoofing
Last updated: 7 July 2026
Related terms
- Payment Redirection Fraud Payment redirection fraud is a scam where criminals trick a business into sending money to a bank account they control, usually by posing as a supplier and changing the payment details on an invoice.
- Vendor Email Compromise (VEC) Vendor email compromise (VEC) is a scam where an attacker takes over or spoofs a supplier's email account to send fraudulent invoices or bank detail changes to that supplier's customers.
- Bank Detail Change Fraud Bank detail change fraud is a scam where a criminal poses as a supplier or employee to request a change of bank account details, so future payments are diverted to the fraudster.
See also: Payment redirection fraud , Supplier verification in Australia , Verify a supplier bank account in Australia
Stop payment fraud before money moves
Verify the person, business, and bank account before any payment leaves your account.