Advance payment fraud is a scam that tricks a buyer into sending money before any goods or services are delivered. The attacker usually poses as a legitimate supplier, contractor, or business partner and creates pressure to pay quickly. Common tactics include fake invoices, spoofed email addresses, lookalike domains, and cloned websites that make the company appear real.
This matters in cyber security because the attack targets trust in digital business processes, not just systems. A convincing website or email can support invoice manipulation, payment redirection, or vendor impersonation. Defenses include verifying supplier identity through independent channels, checking domain names carefully, confirming bank-detail changes out of band, and requiring approval steps for high-value payments. In practice, advance payment fraud is often a blend of social engineering, web impersonation, and financial abuse.