Break the scam path
Verify payment and account-change requests on a second channel
Use a short verification script for new bank details, urgent payments, password resets, gift cards, payroll changes, and unusual vendor requests.
What this guide should leave behind
People know which requests require a pause, who may approve them, and how to verify through a trusted route that did not arrive in the request.
Work the routine in this order
- 01
Name the high-risk requests: bank-detail changes, urgent wires, payroll updates, gift cards, password or MFA changes, sensitive files, unusual links, and secrecy demands.
- 02
Require a second-channel check using a known phone number, saved vendor contact, approved portal, or in-person confirmation. Do not use contact details supplied inside the suspicious message.
- 03
Separate request, verification, and approval where practical. Record the verification without copying sensitive payment or identity information into an open channel.
- 04
Make it safe to pause. Train people that urgency, authority, familiarity, and convincing writing do not replace the verification rule.
Foundations worth seeing
- Bank and payroll changes always use a trusted second channel.
- People know that email display names and caller ID can be misleading.
- Unexpected attachments, QR codes, links, and MFA prompts trigger a pause.
- A reporting route exists for suspicious messages and mistaken clicks.
Terms behind this routine
Know when general guidance stops
Contact the financial institution, affected provider, insurer, counsel, law enforcement, or qualified incident-response support promptly when money, credentials, customer information, or business accounts may be involved.