“Oh no. Not again!”
That was the reaction from one of our team members last week — after spotting a strange new direct debit on a client’s bank account.
A gym membership.
She called the client straight away.
“Definitely not ours,” came the reply. “We don’t even have a company gym membership.”
It was fraud. Again.
In fact, it was the fifth time this had happened in 18 months.
The fraudster was clearly sporty — previous attempts included a season ticket for a football club.
Here’s the scary truth most business owners don’t realise:
Setting up a fraudulent direct debit on your account is frighteningly easy.
All someone needs is your bank account number and sort code — details you probably send out on every invoice to make it easier for clients to pay you.
From there, they can set up a direct debit online in minutes.
So how do you stop this?
The only defence is vigilance — checking every single day that no new direct debits have appeared.
That’s exactly what we do for our clients.
As part of our daily checks, we go through every transaction to confirm that what should have happened actually has — and nothing unexpected has slipped through.
If a new direct debit shows up, we verify it straight away.
Yes, the Direct Debit Guarantee means you can usually get your money back… eventually.
But why wait until after you’ve been scammed?
Our clients rarely need to, because we catch these things before the money even leaves their account.
This kind of proactive, detail-obsessed financial oversight is how grown-up businesses manage their cash — the kind of discipline corporates take for granted, but that smaller companies often lack until they work with us.
If you’d like that same level of care and protection for your business, email info@insightassociates.co.uk or call 01279 647447 to arrange a no-obligation consultation with me or one of our specialists.
Warm regards,
Garry
You might also be interested in: We spotted suspicious activity in a client’s account. Here’s what happened next… – Insight Associates Limited
