NCA construction invoice fraud alert: control and verification lessons for project teams
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
The National Crime Agency and National Federation of Builders have launched a joint campaign targeting invoice fraud in construction, after Report Fraud data showed £3.9m lost in 83 cases in September 2025 alone, with average losses above £47,000 and 85% of all Payment Diversion Fraud value linked to invoices. Construction is flagged as high risk due to complex subcontractor supply chains, frequent high-value payments and email-based payment instructions that are easily intercepted or spoofed. The campaign urges finance teams to verify any bank detail changes via known phone numbers, resist “urgent payment” pressure and use the NCA/NFB guidance sheet to tighten controls.
Technical Brief
- NCA and National Federation of Builders are jointly targeting invoice fraud within construction finance workflows.
- Campaign is directed specifically at accounts payable and finance staff handling supplier and subcontractor payments.
- Fraud typology includes supplier impersonation, email interception and submission of highly convincing but fake invoices.
- Attack vector is typically compromised or spoofed email instructing diversion of otherwise legitimate construction payments.
- Guidance requires independent verification of any bank detail changes via previously used, trusted phone numbers.
- NCA advises halting all transfers until invoice and account details are fully validated as genuine.
- Cashflow loss from a single diverted payment is flagged as sufficient to collapse smaller contractors.
- NCA’s National Economic Crime Centre is coupling this prevention campaign with investigations and intelligence-sharing against organised networks.
Our Take
With 83 invoice-fraud cases in a single month and 85% of Payment Diversion Fraud losses tied to invoices, UK contractors and suppliers are now facing a risk profile that is operationally comparable to major safety incidents our database usually tracks under the Safety tag.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
