Message from Office of the State Comptroller

SECURITY ADVISORY FROM OSC:

There have been recent attempts by hackers to obtain state employee and payroll officer information, including employee banking information, using a variety of online sources. These attempts have become more frequent and aggressive. Emails are being sent to payroll officers requesting employee direct deposit information be updated. These emails may contain links and/or malware. If you reply to the email, the hacker has confirmation of your email address. They may also infect your computer with malware which may capture private information on your computer or capture keystrokes you use to log into various systems such as PayServ.

The process for initiating or changing employee direct deposit information has not changed. An employee must submit a form AC2772 – OSC-Direct Deposit of Salary Enrollment/Change/Cancellation Form that requires a signature from the employee and a voided check or a signature from the banking institution’s representative.

Payroll Officers are not authorized to initiate a direct deposit enrollment or change without a completed form AC2772. In light of these malicious activities, requests should also be verified by telephone with the employee to confirm they are initiating the enrollment and/or change prior to entering the information into PayServ.

Paycheck Checkup:

The IRS has issued several reminders advising taxpayers to do a Paycheck Checkup. Taxpayers can use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator (https://www.irs.gov/individuals/irs-tax-withholding-estimator) to assist in determining the correct amount of tax that they should have their employer withhold from their paychecks. Checking and adjusting tax withholding as early as possible is the best way to avoid having too little or too much tax withheld from paychecks. Too little withheld could result in an unexpected tax bill or penalty at tax time next year. OSC suggests agencies notify their employees of this beneficial tool as soon as possible.