SAF Huddle Protocol
A quick team consultation before high-stakes decisions can prevent costly mistakes. The SAF Huddle Protocol provides a structured verification process for urgent requests involving money, credentials, or sensitive data.
Two perspectives are harder to deceive than one.
Why Teams Need a Protocol
Fraudsters target individuals acting alone under time pressure. Business email compromise, executive impersonation, and AI-enabled voice cloning all rely on isolating a single decision-maker and preventing verification.
The Huddle Protocol disrupts this pattern by ensuring high-stakes decisions involve at least two people and follow a consistent verification process.
This is not about slowing down legitimate work. It's about building a verification habit that catches fraud attempts while allowing normal operations to proceed smoothly.
The Five-Step Huddle
A structured process that takes minutes but prevents costly mistakes.
Pause the Request
When an urgent request arrives—especially involving money, credentials, or sensitive data—pause before acting. The pause itself is a security measure.
Do not act on urgency alone.
Convene the Huddle
Bring in at least one additional person before proceeding. This can be a supervisor, colleague, or designated verifier. Two perspectives are harder to deceive than one.
No one should approve high-stakes requests alone.
Review the Indicators
Together, assess the request against known fraud patterns: unexpected urgency, unusual channels, emotional pressure, secrecy demands, or deviations from normal process.
Pattern recognition is a team skill.
Verify Through Second Channel
Contact the apparent requester through a known, trusted channel—not any channel provided in the request itself. Confirm the request is legitimate before proceeding.
Verification defeats impersonation.
Document and Proceed (or Decline)
Record the verification steps taken. If verification succeeds, proceed with confidence. If verification fails or cannot be completed, decline and escalate.
Documentation protects everyone.
When to Call a Huddle
The protocol applies to high-stakes requests, not routine operations.
Wire Transfers & Payment Changes
Before processing large transfers or vendor payment changes, huddle to verify the request through established channels.
Executive Requests
Urgent requests from executives—especially outside normal processes—warrant a huddle before action.
Credential Sharing
Any request for passwords, access codes, or authentication tokens should trigger a huddle.
Sensitive Data Release
Before releasing customer data, employee records, or proprietary information, verify the requester and authorization.
General rule: If a request creates urgency, asks for secrecy, bypasses normal channels, or involves significant money or access—huddle first.
Grounded in Stop. Think. Verify.
The Huddle Protocol operationalizes the Stop. Think. Verify. framework for team environments. It transforms an individual habit into an organizational practice.
- Stop: Pause the request and convene the huddle.
- Think: Review together for fraud indicators.
- Verify: Confirm through a trusted second channel.
Implement the Huddle Protocol
StopAiFraud Foundation provides training materials and implementation guidance for organizations adopting the Huddle Protocol.