Nonprofit fraud doesn’t always kick down the door . . .sometimes you invite the vampire in and approve its invoice! Join pirate-costumed Justine Townsend of Your Part-Time Controller for a howling Halloween lesson in spotting sinister payment requests, protecting your nonprofit’s treasure, and keeping internal controls alive through the year-end fright fest.  The pirate is friendly. The invoice might not be!

With Justine in pirate gear, Tim Sarrantonio dressed as a piñata, and Julia C. Patrick emerging from a cauldron, this annual Halloween episode delivers plenty of laughs and a serious reason to rethink who gets through your financial front door.

Today’s scams can borrow familiar writing styles, imitate executive voices, and arrive disguised as vendor paperwork you were already expecting. As Justine puts it, “You have to unmask the monster before you open the door.”

Discover how social engineering uses urgency and authority to push staff past normal approvals. Justine shares a chilling near-miss: changed payment instructions on an expected construction invoice could have diverted $250,000. The lesson is simple: independently confirm changes before money moves.

The conversation also explores holiday distractions, donation-platform card testing, third-party security, and check tampering. For smaller organizations, Justine explains how a board treasurer or finance chair can provide independent bank oversight, even when one executive director handles most daily tasks.

Your monster-fighting toolkit includes segregation of duties, two-factor authentication, verified vendor information, and payment processes that leave time for human judgment. Automation can reduce repetitive work, but it still needs clear approvals and review.

“Our job is to protect ourselves from the fraudsters,” Justine reminds us. That means reviewing controls when responsibilities change, staying alert to new schemes, and keeping safeguards in place through the year-end rush.

Key Takeaways:

– Confirm changed vendor payment instructions through an independent outgoing call.

– Treat unusual urgency as a reason to pause and verify.

– Separate vendor setup from bank reconciliation; add board oversight when staffing is limited.

– Maintain approvals and verification through holiday deadlines and incident cleanup.

– Review controls whenever staff responsibilities or financial processes change.