Supplier Fraud & Verification
Case studies, risk patterns, and practical guides for Australian accountants and procurement teams.
Why You Should Check the Directors, Not Just the Company
The company checks out. ABN active, no insolvency, clean adverse records. But the director ran three other companies in the last five years — two are now deregistered with unpaid creditors. Here is what entity-level checks miss.
Why Family Offices Are the Most Underserved Market for Corporate Intelligence in Australia
Family offices make significant investment decisions with limited research infrastructure. The intelligence gap is larger than most principals realise.
The NDIS in Numbers: What $50 Billion in Annual Payments Tells Us About Australia's Disability Services Market
Gumshoe has processed 120,774 NDIS payment records totalling over $544 billion in cumulative payments. Here's what the data reveals about Australia's largest social services market.
The Eleven Registers Every Supplier Should Be Checked Against
There are eleven government registers relevant to business legitimacy in Australia. Manually checking each one takes 30–45 minutes per supplier. Here is what each register catches, and why no single check is sufficient.
Pre-Acquisition Due Diligence: The Public Records Every Buyer Should Check Before Signing
Before heads of agreement, before exclusivity — there is a set of public record searches every acquisition buyer should complete. Here is what they are.
The QuickScan Report: What 5 Pages of Public Data Can Tell You in 48 Hours
A walkthrough of what a QuickScan intelligence report contains, using a fictional composite entity to illustrate each section.
What Customer Reviews Tell You About a Supplier's Survival Odds
The pattern is consistent: suppliers that collapse in Q1 started getting terrible reviews 6–12 months prior. Reviews are a leading indicator of operational distress, not a vanity metric. Here is what three sources tell you that no register captures.
What Short Sellers Actually Want to Know (And How Public Records Answer It)
The information short-seller research teams need most is often already in the public record. Here is what Australian registers contain — and what they do not.
The Australian Supplier Risk Index: Mid-Year 2026 Update
Our quarterly analysis of supplier risk across the Australian business population. 16.8M ABN records, live insolvency data, verification signal trends, and what it means for procurement in H2 2026.
How Australian Accounting Firms Are Becoming the First Line of Supplier Fraud Defence
The liability landscape for accountants advising on payments is shifting. Here is how forward-thinking firms are building supplier verification into their advisory practice — and why it matters.
Network Analysis: Mapping the Hidden Connections Behind Australian Corporate Structures
A single ABN tells you almost nothing about the network surrounding an entity. Network analysis maps what a single lookup cannot.
Fair Work Notices: The Supplier Red Flag Nobody's Checking
If a supplier has received a Fair Work compliance notice, someone has been underpaid. That someone may be the workers providing services to you — and depending on your industry, you can share liability. Here is what the compliance register covers and when it matters.
The Source Register: Why Every Claim in Our Reports Has a URL
We include a complete source register in every Intelligence Dossier. This is not a courtesy — it is the most important section of the report.
The Director Who Ran 14 Companies, 9 of Which Failed: Understanding Phoenix Risk
A composite case study built from real ASIC data patterns. How director networks create supplier risk, what the data reveals, and how to identify phoenix patterns before they cost you.
Verify Us First: How We Run Gumshoe Through Its Own Check
We ask you to trust Gumshoe with sensitive due diligence decisions. So we think it's only fair you can verify us before you pay us a cent.
Postcode Risk: Where Australian Businesses Fail at the Highest Rates
Using our database of 16.8 million ABN records, we mapped business failure rates by postcode across Australia. The patterns reveal significant geographic concentration of supplier risk.
How We Reconstruct a Corporate Timeline From Public Records
A corporate timeline tells stories that individual data points cannot. Here is how we build one — and what sources make it possible.
How to Verify Supplier Bank Details Before Paying an Invoice
Invoice redirection fraud cost Australian businesses $79.4M last year. The ACCC and AFP agree it's the #1 business fraud type. Here are the five checks that stop it — and how to run them in under two minutes.
Why Gumshoe Has a Labs Division — and How It Makes Verification Sharper
Labs is not a side project. It is the engine room where we stress-test our own intelligence by running it against live capital markets. Here is why that feedback loop makes your supplier checks more accurate.
What the Media Already Knows About Your Suppliers (That ABN Checks Don't)
ACCC investigations, Fair Work enforcement coverage, unpaid subcontractor disputes — these signals are in the public record before they show up in court. Here's how media monitoring fits into supplier due diligence.
Is Your Supplier on the ATO Tax Debt List?
Since 2019 the ATO has been disclosing businesses that owe more than $100K in collectable tax debt. Most AP teams have never heard of the list — but credit bureaus and banks have. Here is what it signals and why it matters before you pay.
The Email Infrastructure Red Flag That Most Risky Suppliers Share
Our verification data shows that missing DMARC and SPF records are among the strongest early indicators of supplier risk. Here is why email infrastructure matters for invoice fraud prevention.
What a Director History Can Tell You (That the Company Won't)
ASIC historical directorship data is public, comprehensive, and almost never checked. Here is what it reveals — and what patterns to watch for.
How to Verify a Supplier ABN on Your Phone — Gumshoe Mobile Guide
A step-by-step guide to running a full supplier verification on Gumshoe from any mobile device. Covers the verify flow, reading results on a small screen, and the fastest path from ABN to confident decision.
31,000+ Australian Companies Are Currently in External Administration. Does Your Supplier List Overlap?
ASIC insolvency data reveals the scale of companies currently in external administration across Australia. What it means for accounts payable teams and how to cross-check your supplier portfolio.
The 10 Things We Check Before Anyone Calls It Due Diligence
A framework for what comprehensive corporate intelligence looks like — and why most due diligence processes leave most of it out.
Your Accounts Payable Team's Biggest Risk Isn't Fraud — It's Complacency
In postcode 2000 alone, 7,559 ABNs were cancelled in the past 12 months. Suppliers you verified two years ago may no longer exist. The complacency problem in Australian accounts payable.
What the Insolvency Gazette Tells You That ASIC Doesn't (Yet)
ASIC's bulk data can lag gazette notices by weeks. A liquidator files Tuesday; it may not appear in ASIC's bulk extract until next month. Here's what the gazette catches first — and why it matters for payment decisions.
The 5-Year Survival Rate of Australian Businesses: What the Numbers Actually Say
We analysed the full 2019 ABN registration cohort — 900,000+ businesses — and tracked their survival to 2024. Only 31% of sole traders made it. Here is what the data reveals about supplier risk.
Release Notes — June 2026: Capital Intelligence, Reports Suite & Platform Improvements
June 2026 brings the full launch of Gumshoe Capital Intelligence, a new Intelligence Reports suite, front-page banner system, nav and layout standardisation, and a scheduled blog pipeline running through November 2026.
Introducing Gumshoe Capital Intelligence: Public-Record Research for Serious Investors
Gumshoe Capital Intelligence is a forensic public-record research suite built for Australian investors, due-diligence teams, and legal and accounting practices who need facts — not opinions — about the companies they are evaluating.
The Viper Pattern: Identifying Activist Short-Seller Campaigns Targeting ASX Companies
The ASX has been targeted by multiple high-profile activist short-seller campaigns over the past decade. Understanding how these campaigns work — and how to distinguish legitimate research from market manipulation — is essential for listed companies, institutional investors, and retail traders.
Intelligence vs Investment Advice: Why the Distinction Matters
Gumshoe Capital Intelligence is an intelligence company, not an investment adviser. Here is why that distinction matters legally, epistemically, and for you.
We Analysed 16 Million Australian Business Records. Here Is What We Found.
Most businesses check an ABN and call it done. We built a machine that cross-references 20 government registers simultaneously — and the data tells a different story about supplier risk in Australia.
Andrew Left Convicted: How Citron Research Ran the Viper Pattern for 20 Years
In 2024, Andrew Left — founder of Citron Research — became the first prominent short-seller convicted of securities fraud for a "tweet-and-trade" scheme. His conviction exposed the mechanics of the Viper Pattern: take a position, publish a report, profit from the price move, then quietly exit.
Make Your Next Audit Boring
The best compliment an audit can pay your supplier process is silence. That silence is bought in advance — at onboarding — not reconstructed under pressure at year-end.
Gumshoe is Live — Australian Supplier Verification, Properly Done
Today we launch Gumshoe — the first supplier verification platform built specifically for Australian businesses. Here is what we built, why we built it, and what happens next.
Your Gumshoe Dashboard — Everything You Can See and Do
Once you have verified a few suppliers, the dashboard becomes your command centre. Here is a plain-English walkthrough of every section, what the numbers mean, and what actions you can take.
Platform Update — Director Checks, Street View Fix & Intelligence Upgrades
Street View Pro now shows the photo it was always supposed to. Directors are now cross-checked against ASIC's banned list. Social media discovery is smarter about sole traders. Plus a full capability audit of every check we run.
Release Notes — June 2026
Street View fixed, smarter social media discovery, homepage cross-checks, and the support queue going live. Everything shipped in June 2026, in one place.
What Gumshoe Actually Checks: Inside the Data Behind the Verdict
A supplier check is only as good as the data behind it. Gumshoe draws on dozens of independent public sources — government registers, domain infrastructure, physical signals, and online presence — then cross-checks each against the others. Here is how that works, and why it matters.
How Gumshoe Remembers Your Supplier Details
Gumshoe saves the details you enter for each supplier — website, phone, address, email — so you never have to type them again when you revisit the same ABN.
How We Verify Bank Accounts Without Storing Bank Accounts
Payment fraud costs Australian businesses hundreds of millions every year. The solution is obvious — a searchable database of who owns which account. The problem is equally obvious: that database would itself be a fraud target. Here is how we solved it.
Active ABN Is the Floor, Not the Ceiling
An active ABN feels like a green light. It isn't. It's a turnstile — easy to pass, and not proof of much. Here's what actually separates a real supplier from a convincing front.
The Phoenix Pattern: How Fraudsters Walk Away From Their Debts — and How to Catch Them
Billions of dollars leave Australian creditors empty-handed each year when operators run up debts, deregister, and reappear under a fresh ABN. This is phoenix fraud — and it leaves forensic fingerprints that Gumshoe now reads automatically.
Toxic Combinations: What Banks Know That Businesses Don't
Banks spend millions building systems to ensure the person who can move money can't also approve it. Here's why the same logic — applied to the people running companies you do business with — is the due diligence most businesses have never thought to run.
The Three-Second Check That Prevents a Five-Figure Mistake
Most invoice fraud isn't a heist. It's a typo you were meant to trust. Three habits defuse most of it — and the third one is the whole game.
How a National Retailer Caught a Ghost Supplier Scheme
A major Australian specialty retailer discovered a network of fictitious suppliers after running Gumshoe verification on their accounts payable backlog. Here is what the checks found — and what human review alone had missed for three years.
The Hidden Cost of Supplier Fraud in Australia
Australian businesses lose an estimated $3.1 billion annually to payment fraud. Most of it starts with a supplier that was never properly verified. Here is what the numbers actually look like — and where the exposure sits.
Beyond the ABN: Why a Valid ABN Is Not Enough
A valid, active ABN is the minimum threshold for supplier legitimacy — not the maximum. Here is why accountants who stop at the ABN check are leaving serious risk on the table.
8 Red Flags Your Accounts Payable Team Is Missing Every Day
Most AP fraud succeeds not because it is clever, but because it exploits gaps in manual verification processes that nobody has had time to fix. These eight signals are the ones most commonly overlooked.
How Business Email Compromise Works — And How to Stop It
Business email compromise is the most financially damaging form of cybercrime targeting Australian businesses. Understanding exactly how it works is the first step to building effective defences.
The ASIC Deregistration Trap: When Your Supplier Does Not Exist Anymore
ASIC deregisters hundreds of companies every month. An ABN can remain active after a company is deregistered. Paying an invoice from a deregistered company creates legal exposure most businesses do not know about.
Domain Age in Supplier Verification: The 180-Day Rule
Domain age is one of the most powerful and least-used signals in supplier fraud detection. A domain registered in the last six months warrants immediate heightened scrutiny. Here is why — and how to check it.
DMARC, SPF, and Why Your Supplier's Email Domain Matters More Than You Think
Email authentication records are free to check, publicly available, and almost never examined in supplier verification. They are also among the clearest indicators of whether a supplier's domain can be impersonated.
A Risk-Based Supplier Onboarding Framework for Australian Accountants
Not every new supplier presents the same risk. A risk-tiered onboarding framework lets your team apply the right level of scrutiny to each relationship without creating unnecessary friction for legitimate vendors.
From 40 Minutes to 60 Seconds: The ROI of Automated Supplier Verification
The business case for automated supplier verification is not about technology — it is about time. Here is what the numbers look like when you calculate the true cost of manual verification at volume.
Building an Audit Trail: Why Timestamped Supplier Verification Reports Matter
When fraud happens despite your best efforts, what saves your business is evidence that reasonable due diligence was performed. A timestamped verification report is that evidence.
How an Accounting Firm Scaled Supplier Risk Reviews Across 80 Clients
A mid-sized Australian accounting practice was spending 40+ hours per month manually checking suppliers for their advisory clients. Gumshoe reduced that to under 4 hours — while improving the depth of every review.
The $340k Subcontractor Fraud a Small Builder Almost Missed
A family-owned construction business with 12 staff discovered a subcontractor had been invoicing for work that was never performed. A single Gumshoe report during onboarding would have flagged three critical warning signs on day one.
Inside a Property Manager's Maintenance Billing Fraud
A property management group discovered one of their own managers had been routing fake maintenance invoices through family-registered businesses for over two years. The scheme was sophisticated, hidden inside legitimate rent statements, and nearly impossible to detect without automated supplier verification.