Business email compromise protection Leeds: a practical guide for 10–200 staff
If you run a business of 10–200 people in Leeds, the line between a routine email and a costly fraud is embarrassingly thin. Business email compromise (BEC) is one of those crimes that doesn’t smash your doors in — it strolls through the front-door email and walks out with invoices, payroll changes or confidential data. This guide explains what matters in plain English and what you can do now to reduce risk, recover faster and keep the board off your back.
Why BEC is different — and why Leeds firms should care
Unlike noisy ransomware attacks, BEC is quiet, targeted and social. An attacker impersonates a trusted person — a supplier, a director, even a solicitor — and convinces someone in your business to move money or reveal information. For city centre firms and suburban teams alike, the result is the same: reputation damage, cash losses and frustrated relationships with banks and suppliers.
Leeds has a healthy mix of professional firms, manufacturers and digital agencies. Many rely on tight cashflow and trusted relationships with local banks, shared service providers and advisers. That makes successful BEC attacks particularly painful: one fraudulent payment can stall payroll or undo months of effort on a tender.
Common BEC scenarios you should spot
You don’t need to know how the malware works — you need to spot the story. Typical scenarios include:
- Invoice fraud: a trusted supplier’s email changes bank details just as a big payment is due.
- CEO fraud: someone in finance receives an urgent payment request purportedly from the MD.
- Account takeover: a staff mailbox is hijacked and used to request invoices or persuade partners to pay into a new account.
These attacks rely on pressure (“pay now”), familiarity (accurate job titles, small talk) and small operational gaps (payments made without identity checks).
Practical protection steps that actually matter
IT-only solutions aren’t enough on their own. You’ll get the most protection from a mix of simple processes, staff behaviour and sensible tech. Here’s a pragmatic checklist you can action this week and refine over time.
1. Lock down processes for financial requests
Make it policy, not polite suggestion: any changes to supplier bank details or urgent payment requests must be verified by a second channel — phone call to a known number, face-to-face confirmation, or a video call if remote. Train staff to treat “urgent” requests as suspicious.
2. Short, targeted training for the people who handle money
Don’t spend a fortune on mandatory e-learning for everyone. Run focused sessions for finance, HR and anyone with approval authority. Walk through real examples and local scenarios (for instance, how you’d verify a change from a Leeds-based supplier). Repeat quarterly.
3. Require multi-factor checks for financial approvals
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a nuisance for users but a massive barrier to attackers. Where possible, add a secondary sign-off step for payments above a threshold (not just IT login MFA — a human check executed through a different channel).
4. Make email verification routine — not heroic
Teach staff to look for subtle signs of spoofing: slightly altered sender addresses, unusual phrasing, or requests that break normal workflows. But don’t rely on eyeballing alone. Use clear internal rules: if an email asks to change payment details, treat it as “unverified” until checked.
5. Keep recovery plans simple and rehearsed
Have a written incident checklist: who calls the bank, who locks accounts, which external contacts (police, insurers) to notify. Run a tabletop exercise annually so the finance team and IT know their parts. Practising once makes the real thing less chaotic.
How responsibilities split between teams
Business email compromise protection isn’t just an IT problem. It’s a business continuity and organisational-credibility problem.
- Leadership: define payment authority and tolerances, and fund basic checks.
- Finance: enforce verification rules and keep supplier contact records up to date.
- HR & Ops: ensure staff onboarding and leavers’ processes remove access promptly.
- IT: enable MFA, monitor for account anomalies and help with recovery.
You don’t need a large security team to make real progress — you need clear roles and simple, repeatable steps.
When something goes wrong: an immediate 6-step checklist
If you suspect a BEC incident, act fast and calmly:
- Stop further payments immediately and isolate the affected accounts.
- Contact your bank and request recall of funds; provide transaction details.
- Reset passwords and enforce MFA on compromised accounts.
- Notify internal stakeholders and document what happened and when.
- Preserve evidence: don’t delete emails, and save logs if you can.
- Consider reporting to Action Fraud and your insurer — follow your incident response plan.
Having practised this once, you’ll know how to buy time and limit loss when the real thing happens.
Where to get practical, local help
For many Leeds businesses, the sensible next step is to combine internal process changes with practical technical support from a local supplier who understands how firms in the region operate. For example, if you want someone who can help implement better authentication and run a tabletop incident exercise while keeping disruption low, look for dependable local IT support in Leeds that can work with your finance and operations teams.
Ask potential partners for examples of how they’ve supported similar-sized organisations in the city: what did they change, how long did it take, and what was the outcome in terms of reduced manual checks or faster recovery times?
Costs and returns — what to expect
Protecting against BEC doesn’t require extravagant spend. The biggest costs are staff time to adopt simple processes, and modest investments to enforce MFA and centralise supplier records. The return is measurable: fewer fraudulent payments, less time spent chasing bank recalls, and preserved trust with customers and suppliers.
Think of protection spending as buying calm during a crisis: the upfront cost is small compared with the reputational and financial hit from a single successful scam.
FAQ
How quickly do I need to act if we spot a fraudulent payment?
Immediately. Contact your bank straight away and put payments on hold where possible. The sooner you act, the better the chance of recovery. Also follow your incident checklist so you don’t miss steps while panicking.
Can insurance cover business email compromise losses?
Some cyber and crime policies cover BEC, but coverage varies. Check limits, exclusions and notification requirements — and don’t assume policy language covers social-engineering losses without explicit wording.
Is training really effective against BEC?
Yes, if it’s targeted and realistic. Short, scenario-based sessions for staff who approve payments reduce mistakes far more than generic annual modules. Practice and reminders are key.
Should we ban email for payment instructions entirely?
That’s rarely realistic. A better option is to treat email as an untrusted channel for financial changes and require verification through a different, pre-agreed method.
