In general, the internet feels like both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it provides people around the world to connect with each other and has information on basically every topic imaginable accessible within seconds. Of course, with that kind of description, it’s not hard to see what the curse is here—naturally, people are going to want to take advantage of it. As a business, it’s likely that the internet is irremovable within your day-to-day operations, especially when it comes to things like communication. Most things are done through email now, and the things that aren’t, most people would wish were done through email. The issue here is that there are a number of bad actors out there who seek to exploit this, utilizing false emails and websites to lure people into handing over their personal information.
This can, very obviously, create a big problem for both the individual and a business. At Payday HCM, we understand how important it is for businesses to be able to utilize tools like email while also acknowledging the possible danger that these platforms present (or, rather, the possible danger that certain users on the internet present). We frequently receive questions from our clients regarding these kinds of issues and the ways that they can better protect themselves and their employees. One of the more prevalent versions of these kinds of attacks is direct deposit fraud. At Payday, we’re doing everything within our power to help protect our clients from becoming victims of direct deposit fraud.
That’s why, in this article, we’ll be going over the different steps Payday is taking to help protect our clients from direct deposit fraud. We’ll be breaking down our prevention methods into three different categories:
In each of these sections, we’ll look at the steps Payday is taking to help inform and educate our clients on what these kinds of scams are, how they happen, and what they can do to prevent them. By the end of this article, we hope you gain a better understanding of our commitment to client security and walk away with strategies and methods to employ in your business.
Direct Deposit Fraud Prevention: Education
When it comes to preventing direct deposit fraud or phishing attacks in general, education is the best method of prevention.
Client Communication
When it comes to phishing scams, education and communication are key. Direct deposit fraud doesn’t involve any complex hacking or in-depth knowledge of software systems—just a well-constructed email and website designed to steal employee login information. Educating everyone within your organization and communicating what to look out for is crucial in fraud prevention.
For Payday HCM, we’re taking the time to communicate with our clients on direct deposit fraud and the methods they can take to avoid it. And, while we are not responsible for any clients that may fall victim to these kinds of scams, we still want to do everything in our power to help prevent them and help clients recover from them.
Cybersecurity Resources and Education
Of course, educating your organization on spotting phishing scams and preventing direct deposit fraud requires tools and resources. Luckily, we’re also helping to provide clients with those as well to ensure they have everything they need to help keep their business safe.
Our learning center is full of various articles on a whole host of different topics—recently, though, we’ve been publishing content that is centered around cybersecurity, including information about phishing scams and strategies for preventing ransomware attacks. Our YouTube channel also contains helpful resources that you can distribute throughout your organization for helpful tips and tricks that don’t cost you a lot of time.
Direct Deposit Fraud Prevention: Software
Next, we’ll go over how Payday’s partnership with isolved and the utilization of their HCM software helps to keep clients safe.
A Secure HCM Platform
On top of Payday’s efforts to help protect clients from things like direct deposit fraud, Payday’s partnership with isolved to offer their HCM software platform to our clients means clients also have the added benefits of isolved’s own commitment to data security and privacy. This includes various safeguards and analyses to ensure their system is secure.
isolved performs various internal analyses to determine whether its platform is secure from various cybersecurity threats. They also participate in System and Organizational Controls Audits (SOC) for verification from third-party auditors that their platform is secure. While direct deposit fraud doesn’t occur as a result of the security of the platform, it’s still best for businesses to be protected on all fronts.
isolved Fraud Protection Monitoring and Multi-Factor Authentication
isolved has a number of features that can help businesses take control of their cybersecurity and help them and their employees from becoming victims of direct deposit fraud. With different features that allow you to track when an employee changed their direct deposit information, logs for when an account was logged into, as well as notifications for when direct deposit information is changed, isolved helps to empower businesses and protect their employees.
Not only that, but isolved’s commitment to security within its HCM software platform also extends to the level of security required to log in to an account. isolved recently implemented changes for partner and service bureau users that limit multi-factor authentication methods to solely an authenticator app or passkey—for Payday clients, we’ll be adopting a similar method, limiting client users to only text message verification codes or an authenticator app or passkey in order to limit possible phishing attacks.
Direct Deposit Fraud Prevention: Account Monitoring
Now that we have a better understanding of how client education and the isolved software help to create a safer digital environment, we’ll look at how Payday’s client service representatives help monitor suspicious activity.
Alerts and Change Reports
Payday’s team of knowledgeable and experienced client service representatives can help you in cases where you may suspect an employee self-service account has been compromised. They also help to monitor activity to help spot any changes to direct deposit information that may appear suspicious.
With the isolved software, Payday’s CSRs can view a change log that shows the changes made to direct deposit information over a given period of time. This can help verify changes that may not have been made by an employee. CSRs can also use the Threat Fraud Protection Notification dashboard in isolved to check for direct deposit changes as well as flag potentially high-risk routing numbers.
Training and Education
On top of having different software tools at their disposal, CSRs are also trained on various cybersecurity threats, including phishing. This means CSRs can help spot phishing attacks within their own email inboxes, as well as help clients determine whether certain emails may or may not be phishing attempts.
Our CSRs receive consistent training on the latest methods that scammers attempt to use in order to pull off things like direct deposit fraud. This means that, although they are not experts in all things cybersecurity, they are still available to help answer questions or provide basic recommendations when it comes to your own business’s cybersecurity.
Helping to Prevent Fraud, One Client at a Time
The internet can be a wonderful place, full of knowledge and insight available to anyone with the means to access it. Unfortunately, the internet can also be a not-so-wonderful place littered with bad actors looking to take advantage of your good faith and trust in certain platforms. At its best, it can be a minor inconvenience resulting in some (maybe long overdue) password changes. At its worst, though, things like direct deposit fraud can cause permanent financial and personal damage with long-lasting ramifications. It’s why we at Payday have been working so hard to help protect our clients from these kinds of scams.
While there are a number of things to consider when looking for a payroll service provider, security is certainly one of the most important. After all, if there’s one thing you don’t wanna mess with, it’s people’s checks (and understandably so). That’s why, at Payday HCM, we strive not only to bring our clients top-notch customer service, but do so in a safe and secure way. Learn more about how Payday’s payroll services can not only help streamline your current payroll process, but also help to make it more secure as well.
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