Direct Deposit Detour

New Hampshire retirees were warned after fraudulent attempts were made to redirect pension payments through falsified direct deposit change requests. According to the New Hampshire Department of Justice, the New Hampshire Retirement System identified and blocked multiple unauthorized requests involving five retirees and one beneficiary before any payments were diverted.

The requests were submitted by fax and appeared to be part of a broader attempt to steer pension payments away from legitimate recipients and into accounts controlled by fraudsters. Officials said internal security protocols detected the suspicious activity before losses occurred, and affected individuals were contacted.

The attempted fraud highlights a growing risk for retirement systems: payment redirection. Unlike schemes that require criminals to create a new identity or file a new claim, direct deposit fraud targets existing accounts and trusted payment streams. If successful, fraudsters can intercept monthly payments before retirees realize their funds have been rerouted.

Investigators said there was no evidence that member or retiree data was compromised through the retirement system itself. Instead, the fraudulent submissions appeared to be linked to spoofed robocalls impersonating legitimate banking institutions. These scams often pressure victims into revealing personal or financial information that can later be used to submit account change requests.

The fraud attempt was stopped because internal controls flagged the requests before payments were issued. That early detection helped prevent losses and allowed officials to alert retirees about the threat.

“This incident is a reminder that pension systems are attractive targets because they involve recurring payments and trusted relationships,” officials cautioned. “Strong safeguards can make the difference between an attempted fraud and a successful loss.”

The case underscores the need for secure change-of-payment workflows, callback verification, anomaly detection, and retiree education. Agencies and retirement systems must be especially cautious with requests involving new banking details, unexpected communication methods, or changes submitted outside normal channels.

Today’s Fraud of the Day is based on reporting from the New Hampshire Department of Justice regarding fraudulent attempts to redirect pension payments.