Payroll fraud | Walmart to resolve 'paycheck discrepancies,' offer two years of fraud protection after employee-led payroll breach

Walmart to resolve 'paycheck discrepancies,' offer two years of fraud protection after employee-led payroll breach

Walmart has offered its associates affected by a payroll breach from a now-fired employee two years of fraud protection, and has said it will ‘resolve paycheck discrepancies.’

According to the retail giant, the ex-worker gained access to the records of employees and may have changed personal information to redirect paychecks to their own accounts.

“We discovered that a since-terminated associate logged into some other associates’ employment management accounts… with the intention to commit payroll fraud,” it says in a letter to employees.

“With access to the accounts, the former associate may have viewed certain payroll records and changed some associates’ payroll information to divert their paychecks to a fraudulent account.”

Walmart discovered the breach on March 5, 2024, which took place between September 2023 and March 2024.

The breach includes possible access to names; social security numbers; contact information including phone numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses; dates of birth; and bank account numbers and routing numbers.

The retailer says it launched an investigation after discovering the issue, taking steps to secure the accounts of the associates affected. “We terminated the associate for their actions and reported them to law enforcement,” the letter continues.

Walmart outlines support for associates affected by payroll breach

In the letter, Walmart detailed its plan to support employees affected by the breach and stated it will work to prevent future cases of unauthorized access.

“We are also actively working to resolve any/all resulting paycheck discrepancies and exploring ways to strengthen controls and monitoring to help mitigate future issues,” it says.

“Additionally, we have arranged to provide identity monitoring at no cost to you for two years.”

The identity monitoring services on offer include a $1million identify fraud loss reimbursement, credit monitoring and reports, fraud consultation, and identity theft restoration.

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