Check a Vendor's Status Before Paying with Grok Web and X Search
Uses the Grok app (grok.com, the Grok mobile apps or Grok in X), not the xAI API: Grok searches the web and X live when you paste the prompt into a chat, and no API key is needed. The xAI docs linked below describe the same Web Search and X Search tools for developers on the API.
What the source describes
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) describes a business email compromise scheme in which a business with a longstanding supplier is asked, by email, phone or fax, to pay an invoice to an alternate, fraudulent account. It advises confirming requests to transfer funds and, when using phone verification, calling previously known numbers rather than numbers in the request. xAI's documentation says Grok's Web Search tool searches the web in real time and browses pages, and its X Search tool searches posts on X and answers with citations. Together they support a pre-payment check: research the vendor's recent public news, then verify any bank change by phone.
Result or outcome
According to the source, IC3 lists warning signs such as requests for secrecy or immediate action, unusual timing or wording, and incorrectly formatted invoices or letterheads, and says to contact the local FBI office quickly if a wire is recent, because the FBI working with FinCEN might be able to help return or freeze the funds.
How to run it
- Before paying a new vendor, or any vendor that has asked to change bank details, put the payment on hold and remove your own account numbers from the request email.
- Paste the prompt on this page into Grok with the vendor's name, website and the request text, so it searches the web and X for recent news.
- Read the cited articles and posts, and note any name change, breach or impersonation warning that applies to this request.
- Call the vendor on a phone number you already had on file, never one from the request, and confirm the change with someone you know there.
- Have a second person approve the bank change before the payment is released, and record who confirmed it and when.
Try it yourself
Copyable prompt
I am about to pay [vendor legal name], website [vendor domain], for [what they supply]. Search the web and X for news from the last [90] days about this company and report, with a link for each point: any announced name change, acquisition, new bank or payment processor, or closure; any reported outages, data breaches or email compromises; any posts or articles warning about scams that impersonate it; and its main phone number as listed on its own website. Do not give me any bank or payment details. Then list the warning signs in this payment request that match common business email compromise patterns: [paste the email text with our account numbers removed]. End with the questions I should ask when I call the vendor at a number I already have on file.
Replace the [bracketed] placeholders. Remove client names, account numbers, and personal data before pasting into any AI tool.
What to review
Grok can surface news and scam warnings, but it cannot confirm who controls a bank account, so the phone call to a known number is the real control. Never use contact details from the request itself, and if money has already gone to a suspicious account, contact your bank and the FBI at once.
Related free download: 50 AI Prompts for Bookkeepers (Prompt pack (PDF))
Source: FBI IC3 (public service announcement); also xAI Docs (Web Search tool); also xAI (Grok app: live web and X search); also xAI Docs (X Search tool); also FBI IC3 (business email compromise PSA, 2018)
Not professional advice. This is general information, not accounting, tax, legal or financial advice. Check AI output yourself and consult a licensed professional for your situation. See our Terms of Use.
This entry summarizes a public source. Features, plans, and availability change, so confirm details with the vendor. Tool names are trademarks of their respective owners.
Related workflows
- Accounts Payable
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Bills and receipts from this AP workflow fit in the Small Business Bookkeeping Spreadsheet Bundle, available on our sister store.