When I started my new job, one of the first things I did was make a clear decision: I opted out of all benefits. I submitted a letter during orientation to the person who represented human resources (HR), stating explicitly that I wanted no deductions beyond standard state and federal taxes – no retirement, no insurance, nothing. The person who represented HR collected identifying information for direct deposit and assured me the documents I handed her would be shredded. Instead, however, she returned my documents to me, saying I didn’t have to worry.
Emails from the company later reminded all employees to enroll in benefits, but also confirmed that if we didn’t enroll, we’d be considered opted out. I never enrolled. I continued receiving those emails and ignored them, knowing I had already completed my part. But recently, I noticed my paycheck was short – around $60 less than usual. I always get paid the same amount, so any fluctuation is immediately noticeable. When I checked my pay stub, I saw a deduction for retirement. I hadn’t signed up for retirement. So, I hadn’t authorized this.
I emailed the person from orientation who I knew to handle HR-related transactions. In fact, I’d emailed her a few times to ask different questions before. So, I never fathomed there’d be any problem with this situation. The HR person’s reply to my email was my first red flag. Suddenly, the HR person was distancing themselves from HR altogether, insisting their title was only “Onboarding Specialist,” despite having acted as the HR point of contact during orientation and even afterwards in emails prior to this one. This HR person, now Onboarding Specialist, forwarded me to other HR representatives I had never interacted with before.
The onboarding specialist (I now consider to be a fake HR representative) claimed that they had given me a letter during orientation about opting in or out of benefits – which was untrue. I had given her MY letter. Then she attached a redacted example of that “letter” to her email, which – shockingly – belonged to another employee. I could see through the redaction. Not only was this a privacy violation, it was a blatant cover-up. I decided to take matters into my own hands. I called the numbers the Onboarding Specialist gave me and got nowhere.
Finally, I reached a third-party retirement provider. After verifying my social and date of birth, the rep asked for the last four digits of my phone number. They didn’t match. The number on the account wasn’t mine – not even close. That’s when it clicked: THIS IS FRAUD! Someone had enrolled me in retirement without my consent, using incorrect contact information, which effectively locked me out of the system. When i tried to create an online account, I was blocked immediately. I couldn’t even get access with my own birth date and social.
I called the reps back and demanded to speak to the fraud department. I wasn’t rude about – just matter of fact. I was on a mission to get to the bottom of this. The fraud analyst asked me verification questions and then admitted he sees situations like this “all the time”. But instead of taking responsibility, he initially suggested maybe I clicked on a scam link or gave out my info over the phone. I firmly said no. I don’t answer unknown numbers. My phone is set to silence them. I don’t click links I don’t trust. He paused – then agreed.
What really stood out? He found that the retirement account had been created on March 27 – weeks after I had explicitly opted out and three days after enrollment was due for finalizations. This was someone on the inside. Someone with access. Someone who used a fake phone number and locked me out so they could direct funds somewhere else, possibly even to themselves. I demanded that all deductions stop immediately. The analyst complied. He also admitted that my account had been created online – something I never did and wasn’t able to on the day one of the reps suggested I do so. All I could think was that there was no need to set up an account in the first place when I hadn’t even enrolled for benefits at all.
That was all the confirmation I needed. Someone inside, either the company I work for or the benefits partner, had tampered with my information and siphoned money from my paycheck without my consent. That’s not a mistake. That’s fraud. Now I’m planning to email not just the onboarding specialist and the HR contacts – but also the company responsible for processing the deductions. And I will be contacting my state’s Department of Commerce. Because if this happened to me, it’s likely happening to others. And many of them may never notice.
What saved me? My discernment and persistence. I trusted my gut, followed the clues, and didn’t stop until I got answers. Too many people give up when they’re told to “try again later.” But I didn’t. And I won’t. The money deducted may not seem like a lot, but it does add up overtime, and since I’m a creature of habit and more prone to be knocked off course with any discrepancy, no matter how small, I wouldn’t have been able to let this go until the situation was resolved. I seek resolutions and expect to get them, and I will do whatever it takes to make things right (legally of course).
My Voice Unchained 