A practical guide for agencies that want to protect their people, their payments, and their partners
By Scott Wilson, SVP & Global Chief Security & Privacy Officer | Edited by Jeremiah Akin, Senior Manager, Global Brand & Content Marketing
Staffing and recruiting agencies are built on trust. You handle sensitive data, manage high volumes of financial transactions, and maintain ongoing relationships with dozens, sometimes hundreds, of vendors and partners. That makes you a target.
Cybercriminals know this. They are not just going after large enterprises with dedicated IT departments. Companies with fewer than 100 employees receive 350% more social engineering attacks than larger organizations, and roughly half of all small businesses have no cybersecurity plan in place. If your agency has been operating without a clear security baseline, you are not alone. It is worth changing that now.
This post covers the foundational controls every staffing and recruiting agency should have in place. No advanced technical knowledge required.
Why Agencies Are a Target
The same things that make staffing and recruiting agencies good at their jobs also make them attractive to fraudsters: frequent communication with new contacts, regular wire transfers and vendor payments, and lean teams that move quickly.
Business email compromise (BEC) is one of the most damaging forms of fraud targeting agencies today. It works like this: a criminal uses a fake or compromised email account to redirect a legitimate payment to a fraudulent account. The FBI reported $2.77 billion in BEC-related losses in 2024 alone, and that figure only reflects what was reported. According to the 2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey, 76% of U.S. organizations experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025, and 74% specifically experienced BEC.
The tactics have also changed. Criminals are no longer relying on poorly written emails that are easy to spot. They are using AI to mimic the writing style of people you already trust, spoofing email addresses that look nearly identical to legitimate ones, and manufacturing urgency to make you act before you think.
Hoxhunt’s threat intelligence recorded a 14x surge in AI-generated phishing attacks over the 2025 holiday season, with AI-assisted attacks making up around 40% of all reported phishing by early 2026. These are not the obvious scams of five years ago.
The Non-Negotiables
These are the controls that every agency should have in place before anything else. They are not complicated, but they make an enormous difference.
Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA)
MFA requires a second form of verification when someone logs into an account: a code from an app, a text message, or a hardware key. Even if a criminal has your password, MFA stops them from getting in.
Research cited by Microsoft shows that MFA blocks 99% of phishing-related account compromises. Despite that, only 27% of small businesses with fewer than 25 employees have MFA enabled. Turn it on for every account that offers it: email, financial platforms, your ATS, everything.
Run reputable antivirus software and keep it current
Antivirus software is not a one-time install. It needs to be running, updated, and actively monitored. Reputable options include Malwarebytes, Bitdefender, and ESET. If your team is working across multiple devices, make sure every device is covered, not just office computers.
Set everything to update automatically
Software updates patch security vulnerabilities. When your operating system, browser, or applications are out of date, those vulnerabilities stay open. Set automatic updates on every device your team uses. This is one of the simplest and most effective things you can do.
Use a password manager
Weak or reused passwords are one of the most common ways accounts get compromised. A password manager generates strong, unique passwords for every account and stores them securely. Disable browser autofill for sensitive sites, and do not save passwords in your browser.
Protecting Your Payments
Financial controls are where fraudsters focus most of their energy. These steps make it significantly harder for them to succeed.
Verify payment changes out of band
If you receive an email asking you to update a vendor’s banking information, do not act on it until you have called that vendor directly using a number you already have on file. Never use a phone number provided in the email itself. This one step stops the majority of BEC attempts.
Require dual authorization on wire transfers
Require at least two people to approve any wire transfer or electronic payment above a set threshold. This is sometimes called the “four-eyes principle,” and it is one of the most effective deterrents available. Even if one person is deceived, a second approver gives you a checkpoint.
Reconcile your accounts daily
The faster you catch a fraudulent transfer, the better your chances of recovering the funds. Most banks have a limited window to recall a wire transfer. A daily reconciliation process that compares outgoing payments against approved requests and flags any unfamiliar payee accounts is worth building into your routine.
Secure how vendors submit banking information
Avoid accepting vendor banking details by email. Use a secure portal or a verified intake process instead. This removes one of the most common entry points for payment fraud.
Protecting Your Email Domain
This one is technical, but your IT contact or email provider can handle it. Three protocols, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, work together to prevent criminals from sending fake emails that appear to come from your domain. If these are not configured, someone could impersonate your agency’s email address and use it to defraud your partners or clients.
Ask your IT support to confirm that all three are set up correctly. It is a one-time configuration that protects your reputation and your partners.
Building a Culture of Reporting
Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report found that approximately 60% of breaches involve human actions. That is not a reason to blame employees. It is a reason to invest in them.
KnowBe4’s 2025 Phishing Benchmark Report found that one in three employees is susceptible to phishing at baseline. Organizations that run regular security awareness training see that number drop by more than 40% within 90 days and by up to 86% within a year.
A few habits worth building into your team culture:
Encourage early reporting. If something looks off, a strange email, an unexpected request, a link that feels wrong, your team should feel safe flagging it immediately without fear of judgment. Early reporting saves organizations. Silence is what lets fraud succeed.
Run phishing simulations. Periodic safe phishing tests keep security awareness top of mind and help you identify where additional training would help. Many security platforms offer this as a built-in feature.
Share what you see. If your agency receives a suspicious email or spots a new scam pattern, share it with your partners. Fraud prevention works better as a collective effort.
A Quick-Reference Checklist
Use this to assess where your agency stands today.
Individual and device security
- MFA is enabled on all accounts (email, financial platforms, ATS, HR systems)
- Reputable antivirus software is installed and up to date on all devices
- Operating systems, browsers, and applications are set to update automatically
- A password manager is in use across the team; browser autofill is disabled for sensitive sites
Financial controls
- All wire transfers and electronic payments above a set threshold require dual authorization
- Payment change requests from vendors are verified by phone before any action is taken
- Accounts are reconciled daily, with a process to flag and escalate unrecognized transactions
- Vendor banking information is collected through a secure process, not by email
Email and domain security
- SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are configured on your email domain
- Staff knows how to identify a suspicious sender (checking the full email address, not just the display name)
Culture and awareness
- Staff feels comfortable reporting suspicious emails or requests without hesitation
- Security awareness training is part of your onboarding and annual review process
- Phishing simulations are conducted on a regular basis
Your Agency Deserves a Strong Partner
Protecting your agency from fraud is one piece of a larger picture. Staffing and recruiting agencies also navigate complex workforce compliance requirements, contractor classification risk, and cross-border employment obligations. That is where People2.0 comes in.
People2.0 provides EOR and AOR services to staffing and recruiting agencies across 130+ countries, helping you place workers confidently, stay compliant, and reduce risk at every stage of the engagement. If you are ready to take a closer look at how we support agencies like yours, we would love to talk.
