FBI Says Vendor Scams on the Rise
By J. Thomas Wade
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
October 29, 2026
FOLEY, Ala. Consumers and businesses are being scammed more frequently and with highly sophisticated methods.
Law enforcement, including multiple federal agencies, have formed specialized units to thwart these criminals but they still slip through the next just like they did recently in Mobile.
It was not something done overnight, but rather a well planned out, manipulation of humans and technology.
Now, once again, another scam alert, this one from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Central Alabama.
Some Alabama businesses have received an email scam that was similar to the one that targeted and tricked the City of Mobile to hand over almost $15 million dollars without much hesitation.
It’s not unusual for businesses to pay large invoices online but unfortunately, sometimes employees can be deceived and fail to fully vet the sender.
As with the City of Mobile incident, the “vendor” was able to convince Mobile employees that the city owed the money to the business that was contracted for the construction of Mobile’s Regions Arena. One finance employee has been fired and two others put on leave while an investigation is underway.
A company in Huntsville was recently targeted in a similar “vendor scam” but they were able to verify prior to making the payment of more than $350,000 that the company was not contracted to do business with them.
Similar vendor-impersonation and payment-redirect scams have targeted other Alabama businesses and utilities. For example, a Mobile business recently avoided losing $785,000, while two other local businesses suffered financial losses from identical schemes.
Some of these criminals do extensive research on businesses who have recently won large bids on big construction projects such as a new arena, hospital or school.
These jobsites all work with dozens of subcontractors who also higher other subcontractors to complete certain aspects of the construction.
In some cases, the fake vendors contact the companies asking for a change in payment schedule or ask to shift payment methods from a check to a wire transfer or altering bank accounts.
According to the BBB, another local business lost more than $750,000 to the same scam that targeted the City of Mobile.
Scams like these are both state and federal crimes and often are prosecuted in federal courts.
There are three safeguards that companies can put in place to prevent being scammed in this manner said retired agent, Tony Fusco.
- Assign one person to oversee the vendor which reduces the chance of miscommunications
- Insist on only communicating with one vendor representative
Only accept hard copy written notification for payment method changes
The FBI said that vendor scams have sharply risen over the past five years and continue to involve millions of dollars of fraud.
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