Got scammed and Employer called me stupid

[FidoO5]

Made a massive error at work
I pay suppliers. We had new supplier who emailed to change bank details from original bank details. We usually phone supplier to confirm but it was over and back for a while and it was getting urgent.
I asked them to confirm new details and I sent the payment.
later it was discovered by the original supplier while on phone to buyer that they did not request to be sent to new bank.
My Employer was notified by the buyer and employer said how could you be so stupid.
I broke down and cried when I came off the phone.
I was able to recall the payment but now have to worry about what Employer will do tomorrow. I understand he was angry and annoyed but I am doing Accounts for 35 years so don't think I'm stupid.
I fell for a scam.
Don't know what point off my post is only getting it it in a note makes it helpful
What should I say to Employer tomorrow
If I say yes I made an error his answer is that is not a good enough answer.

If you recalled the payment, there’s no financial loss for the company. Perhaps reputational, but not severe.

You should appear contrite and make the suggestion for process improvement to ensure there isn’t a repeat. Understand the risk and introduce controls for future.

Good luck!

Every company will have its own approach to risk. I can sign off on £5k on my own at work. I am expected to follow policy and carry out appropriate checks before I do so.

If we had to get everything over £5k signed off by two people then no-one would ever get paid. Invoices are signed off by the engineer who ordered the goods/commissioned the services and then they come to me.

But I am expected not to do reckless things like change someone's bank details off the back of an email only. I am expected to contact the supplier by telephone to verify the details.

Not the main point, I know, but I’m interested in the fact you say you work from home. It makes me wonder if that contributed to the error / lack of following protocol. If you’d been in an office with colleagues around you, the issues with people turning off their Teams etc wouldn’t have occurred. I do think WFH discourages communication between people; everyone’s working in isolation and hiding behind Teams and technology.
In your shoes OP, I’d make the effort to physically go into the office and arrange to meet the manager in person rather than hiding behind WFH. Whenever I’ve made mistakes at work (and there've been a few over the years!), I’ve also met with my boss or manager face to face to apologise and discuss how to avoid the mistake happening again. But then, in my line of work there is no WFH option.

Not only has working from home turned into a bit of a scam, it's led to slackness and lapses in concentration as is apparent from this incident.

Indeed. Not necessarily in OP’s case but people juggling shopping deliveries, dogs, the school run, trip to the gym, housework and even childcare alongside ‘working’. I know a lot of people who WFH work extremely hard and don’t do the above but there’s enough people who do take the piss. Additionally, the face to face accountability just isn’t there plus people lose the ability to communicate.

Thanks everyone for the responses
I sent an email this morning apologizing and attached bank statement that the money is returned in full to account
I have cc on the owner who is based in Canada
I have not had any reply.
Yes to everyone who agrees I'm stupid. Yes I agree but don't think there was a need for the comment.

Except he didn’t call you stupid. He asked how you could be so stupid.

Two very different things.

Inferred she was stupid. Shades of grey and you know it.

Have they given you training in how to detect scammers? I have to do this annually in my work.

I think there was, sorry.

This is day one cybersecurity for anyone who handles payments at a company.

Its the most common banking scam there is !

I see that the procedure in your company is that the buyer verbally confirms bank details changes with the supplier then informs you. Does your procedure state specifically how they should communicate the new details to you? Because the email from them could be intercepted and the bank details changed by scammers. You should refuse to use new bank details unless you have had them verified by the buyer verbally on a Teams call which you have recorded as proof for your own protection.

For what reason, exactly? She should count herself lucky to avoid disciplinary action. OP does not have high ground to stand on here.

Even the Teams call has been proven to be vulnerable through AI. Mind you that involved $millions.
The scammers are getting smarter, you wouldn't believe some of the things they can do.

Yes that’s a point, but would it still apply if OP instigated the call to a known number (the buyer)? Was thinking mainly of the ability of the OP to prove she had carried out the check. Though an alternative could be calling on her mobile and recording using her record app.

It is a nightmare - I frequently move large sums of money and even after I do several checks I am still worried that things have gone wrong. Anytime I get an email from anyone saying they've changed their account details I immediately assume it's a scam.

Tell the truth, they already know anyway and just want to hear it from you, to assess your honesty, I got off with a lot worse when I did much the same thing while working for a bank and actually made a payment for the purchase of a house to the wrong account after arranging the mortgage previously, that was much worse than in your case and I just said I was busy talking to the customer after they had come into bank and asked for me to do unrelated business which involved a few bank transfers that were usually done by tellers and I did not have access to the right part of system but this was the day they exchanged contracts and I did a Chaps payment for them free of charge, anyway they confirmed details and it was an account they were transferring money too previously but not solicitors account, I read details back and they confirmed without doing usual checks, bang done hundreds of thousands gone, big complaint next day, all I did was tell the truth and pointed out obvious shortcomings of their systems and more meetings bla bla nothing else happened.

A very good friend of mine lost her whole mortgage deposit like this - email from solicitors with the bank details, and she transferred the money. Never got it back. This was about 10 years ago I think.

Would have, could have, should have. It is easy to make mistakes. Thats rocket science.

This is why the fight against scams has been so difficult to win, even with communities like 𝟜𝕍𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕤𝔹𝕪𝕍𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕤 . 𝕠 𝕣 𝕘 working to support victims and raise awareness. Too many people stay silent because they feel ashamed, embarrassed, or afraid of being judged after being scammed.
But the truth is that she made a mistake just like millions of other people have. These schemes are carefully designed to deceive, manipulate emotions, create false trust, and pressure victims into making decisions they normally would not make. Scammers study human behavior and use sophisticated tactics that can fool people from all backgrounds, education levels, and professions.
Speaking up matters because every shared experience helps others recognize warning signs and avoid becoming the next victim. No one should feel ashamed for being targeted by people whose entire operation is built around deception and manipulation.

I'm not going to beat you up over your mistake any more than you are doing yourself. I hope this can be resolved with your manager and you hold onto your job. He must know you'd never mess up like this again.

That would be gross misconduct in my work, I am so glad you were able to recall the payment OP!

The scam isn't in the least bit sophisticated a child can understand that you must phone up and check changing bank details

This one nearly succeeded because someone didn't carry out the most basic procedure, luck not cunning

This type of scam is almost wholly preventable and would only work if the scammers were able to hijack and change every piece of communication previously received from the supplier and change the phone number or hack into the genuine number and somehow fool all the callers. Those are vanishing likely