iCare NSW enhances the prevention of invoice fraud

iCare, the workers’ compensation insurer in NSW, Australia, is strengthening its defenses against scams and frauds by integrating a secure payment platform with its banking portal. The government-run corporation will cross-match service providers’ information with real-time, banking, and compliance data before making payments. To verify suppliers providing services to iCare’s Lifetime Care, Workers’ Care, Dust Diseases Care, and CTP Care schemes, Sydney-based startup Eftsure will compare its database of pre-verified vendors’ information with iCare’s supplier details. Eftsure’s system will automatically flag any suspicious changes. This approach will make complex provider verification processes simpler and provide ongoing assurance against fraudulent activities. Eftsure will also protect iCare against business email compromise attempts by identifying breaches in pre-set payment thresholds and detecting any lapses in iCare’s suppliers’ tax and business registration status and certifications. Such compromise attempts can include email account compromise, impersonation of vendors’ executives, or registering domains with similar names to vendors and sending fake invoices. iCare’s group executive of lifetime schemes, Dr. Nick Allsop, said that such invoice manipulation by malicious scammers is a real threat to businesses, and they take their responsibility seriously to identify any errors, frauds, or scam attempts before releasing funds. According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, payment redirection scams cost Australians $227 million in 2021.