Payroll Diversion Scam
Criminals impersonate employees to change direct deposit information. Paychecks are diverted to scammer accounts.
🚩 Red Flags
- ⚠Direct deposit change request via email only
- ⚠Request close to payroll deadline
- ⚠Employee "unable" to submit through normal portal
- ⚠Subtle email address differences
- ⚠Account at different bank than previous
🛡️ Protect Yourself
- →REQUIRE in-person or phone verification for DD changes
- →USE employee self-service portals with 2FA
- →IMPLEMENT waiting period for changes
- →NOTIFY employees of any DD changes
- →VERIFY via known contact methods
More Details
- “Please update my direct deposit information”
- “I switched banks, here are new details”
- “Can you change my DD before next payroll?”
- “Having issues with my bank, need to change accounts”
Common Questions
Your data (SSN, credit card, passwords) may be sold on dark web. Monitor credit, change passwords, watch for phishing using your leaked info.
You can, but payouts are usually small ($5-50). Focus on protection: freeze credit, change passwords, enable 2FA.
Check haveibeenpwned.com, watch for breach notification emails, and search "[company name] data breach 2024".
Notify affected individuals, offer credit monitoring, report to authorities, and strengthen security to prevent recurrence.
Report This Scam
If you've encountered this scam, report it to help protect others.
Warn Someone You Know
Know someone who might fall for this? Share this warning with them.
Related Scams
Vendor Email Compromise Scam
Criminals compromise vendor email accounts to send fake invoices with changed payment details. Payments go to scammer accounts.
CEO Wire Transfer Fraud (BEC)
Criminals impersonate executives to trick finance employees into wiring money. FBI IC3: 21,442 complaints in 2024, $2.77 billion in losses.
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73% of Americans targeted(Pew, 2025)
|$470M lost to text scams in 2024(FTC)
|$16.6B total losses(FBI IC3, 2024)