Flag Vendor Bank Change Emails with a Grok Email Automation
What the source describes
xAI's announcement of Automations in Grok says an automation can run on an email trigger instead of a schedule. When an incoming email matches your filters on sender, recipient or subject, the automation fires with that email as context and Grok responds to the actual message, then saves the run to its history and reports back by email, app notification, both or neither. The FBI's IC3 recommends company policies that verify any change to existing invoices, bank deposit information and contact information, and contacting requestors by phone before complying with email requests for payments.
Result or outcome
According to the source, instructions can mention a connector with @ so Grok uses it on every run, and automations can also be created straight from chat, tested with Run now, and paused, resumed, edited or deleted at any time.
How to run it
- On grok.com or in the Grok app, open Automations, create a new automation and choose an email trigger instead of a schedule.
- Set the trigger filters to your AP inbox as the recipient and to subjects such as invoice, payment or bank.
- Paste the prompt on this page as the instructions, with your known vendor domains filled in, and choose app notification or email for results.
- Send a harmless test email that matches the filters, then open the run history to see what Grok flagged.
- For every REVIEW BEFORE PAYING result, hold the payment and confirm the change by phone at a number already on file before anyone edits the vendor record.
Try it yourself
Copyable prompt
This automation runs when an email arrives at [AP inbox address] with a subject containing invoice, payment, remittance, bank or ACH. Read the email and tell me, in three lines or fewer, whether it asks to change bank details, payment method, remittance address or contact details, or pressures us to pay urgently or quietly. If it does, start your reply with REVIEW BEFORE PAYING, quote the sentence that asks for the change, say whether the sender's domain differs from [known vendor domains], and remind me to call the vendor at the number on file. If it does not, reply with one line: no payment change requested. Never reply to the sender, forward the email, or repeat any bank details.
Replace the [bracketed] placeholders. Remove client names, account numbers, and personal data before pasting into any AI tool.
What to review
An automation that misses a cleverly worded request gives false comfort, so keep the phone check for every bank change whether or not Grok flags it. Review the run history weekly for misses, and check what inbox access the email trigger needs before you connect a shared AP mailbox.
Related free download: 50 AI Prompts for Bookkeepers (Prompt pack (PDF))
Source: xAI (Automations in Grok announcement); also FBI IC3 (business email compromise PSA, 2018)
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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.
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