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ACH fraud is an increasingly common type of financial fraud that perpetrators can execute with minimal effort. 

How does this happen?
ACH Fraud occurs when an account number has been compromised or exposed. It is any unauthorized transfer from a bank account using the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network. When fraudsters have an account number, they can easily commit fraud because the only other piece of information required to initiate an ACH debit is the routing/transit number which is publicly available.

Fraudsters look for opportunities to gain access to personal and account information to commit fraud. This can be achieved through malicious actions such as stealing checks and bank statements or tricking a victim to provide this information through social media, phone, or text. Other times, these bad actors may have found ways to fraudulently access information that you provided to trusted sources. 

There are many places where you may have provided or shared your account number. For many of us, this would be to reputable entities such as: 

  • Credit card companies for monthly credit card bills 
  • Utility companies (Water, Power, Electric) for monthly bills
  • Checks written to any payee (e.g. physician office, government)  
  • Other bank accounts or brokerage services to transfer funds between accounts 
What can you do to protect yourself?

  • Set up Digital Banking alerts to be notified of actions on your Digital Banking profile and transactions activity on your accounts. 
  • Review your statements to ensure your transactions, dates, and amounts are as expected. Report any discrepancies immediately.  
  • Update your passwords and verification methods, such as security questions, regularly. The answers to these questions need only be something that you will remember, they do not need to be truthful. (For example, if the name of a school you attended is North Side, you can enter Side North as the response.) 
  • Avoid using public Wi-Fi networks when possible as their security practices are unknown. 
  • Be very careful and selective when sharing account information. Only provide your account information to a reputable source when it is reasonable to do so such as setting up an account to pay a bill or submitting to the government to pay taxes. 
  • If you plan to dispose of or donate a cell phone, tablet, laptop or computer, ensure that the device has been reverted back to factory settings and no personal information is retained.