Paycheck almost stolen in wage fraud case, police warn

BELLE PLAINE, Kansas (KSNW) – Belle Plaine Police are warning of a wage scam.

According to the department, an employer received an email purporting to be from an employee asking to switch their direct deposit information to a GreenDot account. Although Green Dot is a legitimate online-only bank, the email was not actually sent by the employee.

Belle Plaine police say the employer only discovered it was a scam when he informed the employee directly about the bank switch and then contacted police.

This type of spoofing scam is called a payroll diversion scam. The scammer poses as an employee and contacts a manager or someone else at the company who can make changes to the direct deposit information.

In more sophisticated diversion scams, hackers use social engineering to gain access to an employee’s email account and either send an email using the victim’s work email address or access an online portal through the employer that allows them to make salary changes via direct deposit.

In the Belle Plaine case, police said they contacted GreenDot and were informed that the name on the account was “George” with no last name. The agency wants to make residents and businesses aware of this scam and always verify them in person before making any changes.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation recommends always being cautious about what information you share on social media. If you openly share information like pet names, schools attended, birthdays, and names of family members, you risk hackers getting enough information about you to guess your passwords.

According to the agency, between 2018 and 2022, over $3 million worth of cyber financial crimes were reported, causing over $27 billion in damages.

If you have received a fraudulent email or have fallen victim to an online scam, you can report it directly to the FBI at the Internet Crime Complaint Center.