Fraud prevention starts with awareness — but it’s automation that turns awareness into real protection. Yet many companies still approve invoices the old-fashioned way: invoices arrive by email or post, and approvals happen through scattered messages or on paper.
That’s exactly where mistakes happen.
Invoice approval is one of the most vulnerable steps in accounts payable. Approve too quickly and a fake or duplicate invoice can slip through. Approve too slowly and daily operations get stuck. When approvals rely on rushed manual decisions, important details get missed — and fraudsters know how to take advantage of that.
Wherever invoice approvals lack structure and consistency, the risk of fraud rises.
Why manual approval processes leave gaps
Even the most vigilant finance professionals can’t manually verify every invoice detail. Under tight deadlines, it’s easy to overlook a duplicate invoice, miss a subtle bank account change, or send an invoice to approval based on what seems correct.
Fraud schemes are often built around exploiting exactly these moments. Manual processes lack consistency — and consistency is the foundation of fraud prevention.
A $120 million lesson
A well-known case involved a Lithuanian man who convinced two global tech companies to pay over $120 million in fraudulent invoices by sending emails and documents that looked real. He exploited weak vendor verification and approval processes — relying on the assumption that busy finance teams would trust what looked authentic. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
No hacking. No system breach.
Just invoices approved without proper verification.
With structured workflows and vendor master-data checks — such fraud attempts can be identified and stopped before payment authorization.
Of course, it’s impossible to prevent fraudsters from sending fake invoices, but that’s exactly why every company’s accounts payable process must be well thought through, consistent, and controlled.
How Telema eFlow makes approvals more secure
While automation in general reduces risk, Telema eFlow adds specific enhancements that protect the approval stage:
- Rule-based approval workflows that keep decisions consistent
- Automated supplier and data checks to catch discrepancies early
- Full visibility into who approved what, and when
- Reduced manual work, leading to fewer approval mistakes
- Automated routing to the correct, predefined approver
Telema eFlow turns invoice approval from a potential weak point into a reliable, controlled, and fraud-resistant process.
Back to all blog posts
