State retirees targeted in scheme to steal pension funds

CONCORD - The Attorney Generals Office and the Department of Justice's Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau is alerting retirees and beneficiaries of the New Hampshire Retirement System about a series of recently discovered fraudulent attempts to redirect pension payments through falsified direct deposit change requests.

Earlier this month, the retirement system identified and blocked multiple unauthorized requests to alter direct deposit information for five retirees and one beneficiary. These fraudulent requests were submitted via fax and were detected through NHRS's internal security protocols before any payments were diverted.

The Attorney General's Office has been notified of the incident and commends NHRS for its swift response and strong internal safeguards, which prevented any financial losses.

NHRS also contacted all individuals whose names were used in the attempted fraud. Three of the names submitted were not associated with NHRS in any way. Based on NHRS's internal review, there is no evidence that member or retiree data was compromised, nor that the personal information used in these attempts originated from NHRS systems.

The fraudulent submissions appear to have been linked to spoofed robocalls impersonating legitimate banking institutions. These types of scams are commonly used by fraudsters to gain access to financial or personal information.

All retirees, beneficiaries, and members of NHRS--as well as the general public--are urged to remain vigilant against unsolicited communications requesting sensitive financial details:

• Be cautious of unexpected requests to verify or change financial information.
• Never respond to unsolicited emails, calls, or faxes requesting personal or banking details.
• Contact NHRS directly at www.nhrs.org or (603) 410-3500 if you are uncertain about any communication.
• Report suspected scams to the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau at (603) 271-3641 or submit a complaint online at www.doj.nh.gov.

Consumers may also file reports of cyber-related fraud with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.