Granite State retirees warned of pension payment fraud

CONCORD — A new fraud is affecting retirees and beneficiaries of the New Hampshire Retirement System, and New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella is encouraging individuals to watch for diverted direct deposit pension payments as a falsified change request is being used to harm consumers.

Earlier this month, the NHRS successfully 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 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 an internal review, there is no evidence member or retiree data was compromised, nor that 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 detail. Be cautious of unexpected requests to verify or change financial information and never respond to unsolicited emails, calls, or faxes requesting personal or banking details.

Contact NHRS directly at 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 doj.nh.gov.

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