The Hillsboro Police Department has recently investigated scams that involve changing an employee’s Direct Deposit information, resulting in the employee’s paychecks being re-directed to the scammers’ bank accounts. We want you to be aware of these scams, and what you should do to protect yourself.

These scams usually occur as a result of:

A “phishing” email that sends the recipient to a website to “update” their Direct Deposit information, or

A compromised account, where the scammer obtains the employee’s ID and password, signs on and changes the Direct Deposit instructions.

The newest trend is for the scammer to obtain basic employee information.  The scammer then designs a personal check with your, name, address and uses the scammer’s bank account information in bottom of check.  The scammer sends this check and the request to change the direct deposit to the new account to your employer’s Payroll/HR Department. 

This can then result in funds going to the scammer’s bank account instead of the employee’s bank account.

Do not fall victim:

Check with your Payroll/HR department to ensure they have a process in place for detecting Direct Deposit changes; when changes are made to an employee’s Direct Deposit, does your Payroll/HR department send a confirmation email to the employee’s work email?

Keep your eyes open for any email requesting that you “confirm” your sign-on credentials or threatening immediate account closure.

Payroll/ HR personnel will never send you an email asking for your password.

If you do respond to a phishing attack, change your password immediately and check your Direct Deposit information.