A New Scam Targets Your Direct Deposit Info

CNBC:

• Fraudsters are targeting the HR functions of businesses of all types and convincing employees to swap out your direct deposit banking information to an offshore account.
• One nonprofit in Kansas City describes several attempts per month, involving scammers trying to convince payroll personnel to change information about where to send employee pay.
• The IRS has warned of an uptick in a wide range of fraud attempts involving payroll information.

Around two or three times per month, KVC Health Systems, a midsize nonprofit agency for child welfare based in Kansas City, receives phishing emails from criminals with the goal of rerouting an employee’s paycheck by direct deposit.
The emails look legitimate at first, as though they come from the CEO, CFO or payroll director.

The scammer is trying to convince human resources personnel to change the bank account and routing information the employee uses to have paychecks direct-deposited. Once routed to the criminal’s account, the company is on the hook for replacing the stolen funds and the employee faces the inconvenience of a late paycheck.