The $39,000 Fraud Attack!

A client of mine for over 20 years contacted me regarding a message in QuickBooks Online stating his QBO Payroll was on hold, and he should contact them. A second message in QBO stated that QuickBooks was unable to process a payment and was instructed to contact them.

After my client called Intuit, they asked him for documentation to verify his identity. That is when it was discovered that somebody had tried to process a Contractor Direct Deposit of $39,000 from his account! (Contractor Direct Deposits is a Subscription Feature in QBO to make payment to vendors.)

However, Intuit detected that the deposit was out of the ordinary for this company, blocked the transaction, and locked his account.

To ensure the security of my client’s account, Intuit asked that he run security scans on his computer. Once they were satisfied that it was safe, they turned QBO Payroll back on.

My client said he had received an email (that appeared to be from his mortgage company) but it was a phishing email that resulted in malware being installed on his computer. His QBO login had been changed, a new vendor was created, and an attempt to pay the fake vendor $39,000 was made.

Fortunately, Intuit prevented the client from losing ANY money. I asked the client to report the incident to the FBI at https://www.ic3.gov.

All in a day’s work… Fraudsters are becoming bolder and scams more complex. It is nice to know that Intuit and QuickBooks are on our side to diligently protect your hard-earned money and keep small business owners safe.

This blog is meant for educational purposes only. Articles contain general information about accounting and tax matters and is not tax advise and should not be treated as such. Do not rely on information from this website as an alternative to seeking assistance from a certified tax professional. Perlinger Consulting partners with certified tax professionals to assist our clients.