How to check a change of banking details before you pay
When a supplier emails new bank details, treat the change of banking details as unconfirmed until you have checked it yourself, away from that email.
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When a supplier emails new bank details, treat the change of banking details as unconfirmed until you have checked it yourself, away from that email. Standard Bank advises contacting the business on a number you already have on file, not one supplied in the email. Pay only once that call confirms the change.
In short: Standard Bank's advice is to confirm new bank details by phone, on a number you already had, and never to change payment details on the strength of one message.
How to check a change of banking details: the short answer
Why a change of banking details request can look convincing
Warning signs of a fake change of banking details letter or email
Checklist: steps to take before you pay into new bank details
Who to call to confirm new bank details
If you handle payments: a simple process for your team
What to do if you already paid into the wrong account
Where an Authentikor check fits
How to check a change of banking details: the short answer
You know a change of banking details is genuine when a person at the business confirms it through a channel you already trust, never through the message that asked for it. Standard Bank's rule is never to rely on one message alone to change payment details. Standard Bank also warns against using any phone number or link given in the suspicious email. If the person you reach on a known number has not heard of the change, do not pay.
Why a change of banking details request can look convincing
BusinessTech, reporting SABRIC's 2025 statistics on 26 August 2026, says SABRIC found that most digital banking crime came from social engineering and the manipulation of customers, not from direct attacks on bank systems. BusinessTech reports that SABRIC named impersonation and false payment instructions among the methods used, and said AI is making these scams harder to identify.
For background on digital banking crime in general only, SABRIC's 2025 Annual Banking Crime Statistics release, reported by BusinessTech on 26 August 2026, shows that those losses rose to R2.4 billion in 2025, up from about R1.9 billion in 2024, and that banking app-related crime made up more than 70% of reported digital banking losses. BusinessTech reported on 26 August 2026 that this R2.4 billion digital banking crime figure was spread across 110,074 reported incidents, about R21,865 per incident, and that SABRIC said claim amounts had more than doubled from R1.09 billion in 2023. An ITWeb article contributed by a cyber security vendor on 30 September 2026 notes that business email compromise, such as a supplier invoice that arrives with new bank details on a hijacked real email thread, is not counted in SABRIC's R2.4 billion figure, so these figures describe digital banking crime in general and none of the sources gives a separate figure for change of banking details fraud.
Standard Bank describes the scam as a fraudster posing as someone you trust, such as a supplier, attorney, estate agent, contractor, car seller or someone in your own business, and asking you to update banking details before a payment. Standard Bank says criminals often get into email conversations and watch them for weeks before sending new bank details for an upcoming payment. The same ITWeb article says many of these emails carry no malware or link and still pass the SPF, DKIM and DMARC checks, because they come from compromised real accounts or from lookalike domains the attackers have authenticated, and it points out that those checks confirm where an email came from, not what it asks for.
Warning signs of a fake change of banking details letter or email
Standard Bank lists these warning signs: the request copies the real business's branding, logos and signatures, imitates a writing style you know, refers to a real invoice or transaction, and pushes you to pay because the account is overdue or the payment is urgent. Standard Bank says such messages typically include wording like 'We've changed our bank account details' or 'Please use the new account for future payments'.
Standard Bank also warns of small changes to the sender's address that are easy to miss, such as .co.za in place of .com, a missing letter, an extra character, a slight spelling change, or the number zero in place of the letter O. Standard Bank cautions that some scam emails include fake invoices or forms made to look official.
A change of banking details letter that arrives as an attachment deserves the same suspicion as the email that carried it, however official its letterhead looks.
Checklist: steps to take before you pay into new bank details
Before you pay, work through these steps in order and stop at the first one that fails.
Standard Bank advises phoning the business on a number you already have on file, not one taken from the email.
Standard Bank advises looking past the display name and reading the full email address carefully.
Standard Bank advises checking that the account holder name matches the company or person you expect to pay.
Treat any attached invoice or form with care, because Standard Bank cautions that scam emails can include fake ones made to look official.
Standard Bank says urgency is more reason to verify, not less.
Standard Bank says you can use Account Verification Services (AVS) to verify bank account details, and for its own clients it gives a step-by-step guide to doing this in its Banking App.
If you bank elsewhere, ask your own bank whether it offers a similar way to verify account details, and find out how it wants fraud reported before you ever need to.
Write down who confirmed the change, when, and on which number, before anyone releases the payment.
Who to call to confirm new bank details
ITWeb's vendor-contributed article recommends confirming any change by calling back on a number you sourced independently, never on one supplied in the suspect email. BusinessTech reports that SABRIC said people should pause before acting and independently verify unusual requests through official channels.
Good places to find the number include a contract, an earlier invoice you paid without problems, an order you placed, or contact details you saved before the request arrived. Ask for the person you usually deal with, read the new account details back to them in full, and ask them to confirm each one. If they cannot confirm the change, or you are asked to call a different number, stop and do not pay.
If you handle payments: a simple process for your team
Standard Bank says businesses can strengthen protection by training staff to recognise payment fraud, using an approval process for banking detail changes, verifying changes by phone, limiting access to sensitive payment information and using secure email and cybersecurity measures. ITWeb's contributed article adds two-factor authentication on email and banking accounts, and a written internal policy for finance staff.
A simple version for a small team is one rule: no one updates a supplier's bank details until another person has confirmed the change by phone and approved it in writing.
What to do if you already paid into the wrong account
If the money has already gone, act quickly. BusinessTech reports that SABRIC said suspicious transactions and criminal incidents should be reported without delay. Speed matters because, as Standard Bank warns, by the time the fraud is found the money may already have been withdrawn or moved.
Standard Bank gives its Fraud Line number, 0800 222 050, for clients who suspect fraud on their accounts, and says they can also report it in its Banking App by tapping Help and then Report Fraud; if you bank elsewhere, use your own bank's fraud reporting route. BusinessTech also reports that the Banking Industry Anti-Scam Centre, set up by participating banks through SABRIC, has improved how quickly suspicious funds can be traced and preserved before they are moved, though SABRIC said it still needs greater scale, coverage and automation.
As general good practice, keep the email, any attachments and the proof of payment, and write down every call you make.
Where an Authentikor check fits
An Authentikor check fits only where the sender has sealed or coded the document: Authentikor's document sealing page says it is for businesses that send quotes, invoices and statements, so that whoever pays can check them before paying. Authentikor's FAQ says a check shows what the code or seal was issued for, including the invoice number, the amount and the last digits of the bank account for an invoice, so you can compare it with the document in front of you.
Authentikor says a seal copied onto another invoice reads like the original, so the check shows what the original was issued for and a different amount or bank account stands out. Authentikor adds that the proof is the record and its match with the document, not the picture of the seal. Authentikor says every seal names who issued it: a business that a person at Authentikor has checked and approved shows as verified, and an account whose business is not yet verified says so plainly in every check.
Authentikor says a code can be checked on its Verify page by typing it, clicking the link or scanning the QR code, or by giving the file check a PNG, JPEG, WebP, SVG or PDF, and no account is needed. Authentikor states that 'nothing found' means only that it has no seal or code to show for what was checked and never means the document is fake; if you expected a code, phone the sender on a number you already trust.
Whatever a document shows, keep the phone call to a number you already trust as your main check before you pay.
Questions and answers
How do I know if a change of banking details is genuine?
It is genuine only when a person at the business confirms it through a channel you already trust, never through the message that asked for it. Standard Bank's rule is never to rely on one message alone to change payment details, and not to use any phone number or link given in the suspicious email. If the person you reach on a known number has not heard of the change, do not pay.
Who should I call to confirm new bank details?
Call the business on a number you sourced independently, never one supplied in the suspect email. ITWeb recommends calling back this way, and BusinessTech reports that SABRIC said people should pause before acting and verify unusual requests through official channels.
What are the warning signs of a fake change of banking details letter?
Standard Bank lists these: the request copies the real business's branding, logos and signatures, imitates a writing style you know, refers to a real invoice or transaction, and pushes you to pay because the account is overdue or the payment is urgent. Wording such as 'We've changed our bank account details' or 'Please use the new account for future payments' is typical.
What should I do if I already paid into the wrong account?
Act quickly and report it. BusinessTech reports that SABRIC said suspicious transactions and criminal incidents should be reported without delay. Speed matters because, as Standard Bank warns, by the time the fraud is found the money may already have been withdrawn or moved.