Invoice automation firm, Basware has revealed that 90 per cent of organisations lack dedicated prevention teams, forcing accounting staff to juggle fraud management in addition to their regular responsibilities. This strain on resources has largely come as a result of generative AI according to the report.
Fraud is having a huge impact on finances, with fraudulent schemes resulting in global losses of $485billion. Over the past year, 68 per cent of organisations said they experienced fraud attempts, with 62 per cent saying these attempts worsened throughout the year.
Cause for rising fraud levels
There were a variety of reasons for the rise in fraud, although remote work and decentralised operations were specifically highlighted by 25 per cent of respondents. By weakening internal controls, remote work exposes accounts payable (AP) departments to greater vulnerability, making it harder to prevent fraudulent activities.
Additionally, rising transaction volumes (29 per cent) and the expansion of the supplies base (25 per cent) were also listed as critical risk factors. With more invoices to process and a larger number of suppliers to manage, AP teams face greater complexity, which increases the likelihood of errors or fraud.
Together, these external threats create a perfect storm of challenges, making it easier for fraudsters to exploit weaknesses in the AP workflow.
Tom Santacroce, global VP of AP assurance, Basware commented on the findings: “Forward-thinking organisations are reimagining fraud, overpayment and risk prevention through AI and automation that protects against increasingly complex financial threats. Remote work has weakened traditional security, requiring secure systems and innovative solutions like decentralised finance and blockchain for transparent vendor transactions.
“With increasingly sophisticated fraud tactics on the uptick, organisations must prepare for stricter AI and compliance rules. Proactive fraud prevention today not only mitigates risk, but also future-proofs operations against costly penalties.”
Slipping through the cracks
Increasingly sophisticated tactics, such as fake invoices, deepfake media, and phishing scams – driven by generative AI – have made attacks more convincing and harder to detect. This is made all the more difficult when AP teams are the ones that are forced to deal with fraud attacks while managing supplier payments.
Tools such as ChatGPT enable the mass creation of communications and fake invoices, increasing risks and delays in resolving legitimate disputes. When handled by multiple disconnected systems, information becomes fragmented, making patterns harder to spot and allowing fraud to slip through undetected.
Santacroce added: “Manual processes are inherently slow and prone to errors, making it difficult to match invoices, track approvals, or identify duplicate payments – creating exploitable gaps for fraudsters, who are now using GenAI. For overburdened AP teams, these create the perfect storm of challenges, leading to operational bottlenecks, strained supplier relationships, and lost cash flow. ”
Even big names aren’t safe
A high-impact case of AP fraud involved a man from Lithuania, who defrauded Facebook and Google out of more than $120million by posing as a legitimate supplier. Using fake invoices, he secured $99million from Facebook and $23million from Google. The fraud underscored how vendor impersonation and fake invoices can cause massive financial losses without robust AP safeguards, even for large enterprises.
According to the survey, 90 per cent of organisations lack dedicated fraud prevention teams, causing understaffed and under-resourced AP teams to prioritise speed over detailed checks, creating vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, reliance on paper-based processes and inadequate statement reconciliation leaves teams exposed to errors, inefficiencies, and fraudulent activities.
Need for AP automation to combat fraud
AP fraud is one of the most targeted types of fraud for businesses. According to the survey, 28 per cent of organisations cite a lack of AP automation to help tackle fraud. Reliance on manual processes and outdated tools leaves businesses ill-equipped to manage complex, high-volume transactions, creating critical gaps for fraudsters to exploit.
One example of how automation has strengthened AP fraud prevention is KION, the forklift trucks and warehouse equipment provider, which was previously vulnerable to fraud risks due to manual invoice processing.
To address these challenges, KION partnered with Basware, shifting to automated AP processes driven by AI that significantly reduced manual errors, minimising fraud opportunities. With over 90 per cent of its spend now controlled, KION has streamlined its operations, providing better visibility, control, and oversight — ensuring that invoices and payments are accurately validated, reducing the risk of errors or AP fraud.
