By Travel Money Check™ Editorial Team
Information checked October 22, 2026
Your hotel or tour operator sends a replacement invoice. The booking details look familiar, but the payment must now go to a different bank account. There may be an innocent explanation. There may also be an attempt to divert your money.
Pause before changing the recipient or authorizing payment. A useful verification call needs to establish both that the business approved the change and that you have its exact instructions. Asking only whether an invoice was sent leaves too much unanswered.
1. Separate the booking from the new payment request
A genuine reservation does not make every message about it genuine. Lloyds explains that criminals can compromise a company's email or imitate its address, then send a replacement invoice or changed payment details. Familiar logos and accurate service details can appear in the message. Lloyds Bank invoice-scam guidance.
Our recommendation: compare the new request with the original booking record. Note the changed account, recipient name, currency, payment method and deadline. Treat an unexplained switch as something to resolve, not something to overlook because departure is close.
2. Start a separate conversation
Use a number you already know belongs to the hotel, operator or booking business. If necessary, locate its genuine official website independently. Do not take the verification number from the replacement invoice, email signature or message announcing the change. HSBC recommends confirming changed payment details by calling a number known to be genuine. HSBC scam guidance.
If someone calls you first, end that call and initiate your own through the trusted route. Lloyds warns that caller ID can be imitated. An incoming call therefore does not replace your independent check. Lloyds business invoice-scam guidance.
3. Verify the details during the call
Here is an editorial checklist for the conversation, not a bank-mandated script:
- Did your business authorize a change to the receiving account for this booking?
- Which invoice does the change replace, and why did the details change?
- What account name and account identifiers should I use for this payment route?
- What currency, amount and booking reference should accompany payment?
- If an agent or another company will receive it, how are they connected to my booking?
Compare the answers with the instructions in front of you. Read back the details through that trusted conversation. If the person cannot verify them, ask for the appropriate accounts or reservations contact through the same independently established route.
Do not finish with only a promise that another email will arrive. NatWest describes a case where a customer spoke to a genuine supplier but relied on replacement details subsequently sent by compromised email. The important distinction is what gets verified during the conversation. NatWest invoice-fraud guidance.
4. Leave unresolved instructions unpaid
If you cannot reach the business, request clarification through a trusted route and keep the payment paused. Our recommendation is to ask about the genuine booking deadline or available alternatives rather than accepting a deadline in the suspicious message. A time-zone difference can make checking inconvenient, but it does not verify an account.
The FBI advises verifying changes to payment procedures and being especially cautious when someone pressures you to act quickly. A convincing explanation should not replace independent confirmation. FBI business email compromise guidance.
5. Use bank checks as another layer
Read the warnings your provider displays. Where available, an account-name check can help identify a mismatch, but it cannot authenticate the entire booking. Pay.UK says its UK domestic Confirmation of Payee service does not guarantee fraud detection or reimbursement. For the separate account-name question, see our recipient name mismatch guide. Pay.UK FAQs.
Before proceeding, save a private record of who confirmed the instructions, when, and which trusted route you used. Keep the original and replacement invoices together. Do not publish account numbers or booking documents when asking others for help.
If you already paid
Contact the sending bank or payment provider immediately through its official app or a trusted support number. Explain that the payment may have followed altered invoice instructions, and ask whether it can be stopped, recalled or otherwise investigated. The FTC recommends reporting scam payments promptly and asking the payment company about recovery. FTC recovery guidance.
Have the payment reference and messages ready. Do not assume recovery is guaranteed: Wise, for example, says a recall may be attempted but may not succeed. Ask your provider which protections and reporting steps apply to your particular payment. Wise scam-reporting guidance.
Reporting note: This article is an original synthesis of official guidance, not firsthand reporting, a test transfer or a recovery guarantee. Educational information, not personalized financial or legal advice. No live rates, fees or monetary examples are used.
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