The HR Phishing Trap: A Direct Deposit Hijack

Be on high alert for a deceptive new scam circulating in inboxes. This scheme targets your paycheck directly by masquerading as a crucial communication from your organization’s Human Resources (HR) department.

The scam begins with an email that looks entirely legitimate, often referencing important topics like your compensation, benefits, or annual enrollment. To get you to act quickly, the message will include an enticing link, urging you to click to log in to your HR portal and review the supposed new details.

However, the email is nothing more than a carefully crafted phishing attempt. The link does not lead to your company's secure site; instead, it directs you to a fake login page meticulously designed by cyber criminals to mimic your organization’s genuine portal. If you proceed and enter your user credentials (username and password) on this fraudulent site, you've just handed them over to the attackers.

Once the criminals steal your login information, they can easily access your company’s real HR system. Their goal is simple and devastating: they immediately navigate to your profile and change your direct deposit information. By altering your bank account details, they ensure that your next paycheck—and potentially future ones—is routed directly into their bank accounts, effectively stealing your hard-earned wages.

Protect Your Paycheck: Essential Security Tips

To safeguard yourself and your income from this specific threat, follow these crucial cybersecurity practices:

• Practice Skepticism with Urgent or Unexpected Emails: Scammers rely on creating a sense of fear, urgency, or excitement to make you click without thinking. Always treat unexpected emails, even those that seem to come from a familiar source like HR, with caution and healthy suspicion.
• Avoid Clicking Links for Logins: Never use a link inside an email to access a sensitive work system or log into your accounts. The secure habit is to open a new web browser window and either type in the official website address or use a trusted bookmark to navigate to your company’s genuine portal.
• Report Suspicious Activity Immediately: Quick action is vital for collective security. If you suspect an email is a phishing attempt, do not engage with it. Instead, follow your organization's established procedures for reporting it right away. This protects not only you but also your coworkers and the entire organization from a broader cyberattack.