02 Apr 2021 QuickBooks Payroll Fraud Scheme
QuickBooks desktop users should be aware of a fraud scheme involving direct deposit payroll. Here’s what you should look out for.
The scheme works like this:
A fraudster will send an email to your internal HR department, purporting to be an employee. The email address will not match your employee’s normal work email. The email will request a change to the employee’s direct deposit payroll information and the body of the email will include the “new” bank routing and account numbers. (The wording on the email often has poor grammar and syntax). The HR department responds to the email and requests they complete the Intuit direct deposit form. The fraudster responds by including an Intuit direct deposit form and most of the required information – except a copy of the voided check. All the interaction with the fraudster is done via email. The payroll department is given the “new” direct deposit information and HR changes it in QuickBooks and processes the payroll.
If this happens to you we suggest you contact both Intuit and the banks involved to see if they had any resources for retrieving the funds.
We suggest you discuss this example with your HR and Payroll teams and tighten internal procedures to ensure it doesn’t happen to you.