Scammers Target Paychecks At Solon Businesses

SOLON, OH — Police are investigating several recent scam attempts targeting Solon-based businesses.

The con artists create email addresses resembling an employee of the company their targeting, or a firm they do business with, and send an email asking for a direct deposit account to be changed.

"If the victim business does not verify the actual email address matches the one they trust, the email on its face looks legitimate because the display name matches someone they trust," said Lt. Roy Cunningham of Solon Police.

If the business doesn't notice the scam and implements the change, an employee could miss a paycheck or a vendor could go unpaid.

"If you own a business or manage HR, please make sure you are dealing with who you think you are before changing banking information. If you are an employee, you may want to mention this scam to your employer. The paycheck that gets stolen could be yours!" Solon Police said on Facebook.

How should companies and employees protect themselves?

"The main tip would be to positively identify anyone requesting banking information changes before making the changes. Some companies specifically will not accept emails for those types of changes for this reason," Cunningham told Patch.