Classic scam used to just be faxing an invoice to a small business. Good bet the office manager will just pay it. Now people do the same thing by email, I periodically get emailed invoices for small painting jobs that I assume come from some scammer thinking I'm in the property management business.
As discussed at length in the excellent book "Lying for Money" by Dan Davies, these kinds of scam exploit the trust that exists in the business world and perhaps most destructive in the way that they destroy that trust. Having to spend extra time verifying the provenance every invoice or bill you receive is the kind of thing that, in aggregate, becomes a huge cost and irritation.
Very true. In addition, no one wants to risk having a small bill go to collection because of the horrible way our credit reporting systems (don't) work. It is like big companies who settle to save money and move on with life. These people are despicable.
As discussed at length in the excellent book "Lying for Money" by Dan Davies, these kinds of scam exploit the trust that exists in the business world and perhaps most destructive in the way that they destroy that trust. Having to spend extra time verifying the provenance every invoice or bill you receive is the kind of thing that, in aggregate, becomes a huge cost and irritation.