103 IPERS retiree accounts hacked, hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen

Hackers gained access to accounts belonging to Iowa's primary pension fund in mid October and made off with thousands of dollars.

The Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS), is a pension fund that serves state employees such as teachers and government employees. According to an IPERS media release, officials with IPERS learned on Tuesday that 103 retiree accounts had been 'compromised” by hackers a few weeks earlier. The release said that the hackers used stolen Social Security numbers and birth dates to access the IPERS accounts, then changed the direct deposit information to redirect the benefit payments to different destinations.

The Des Moines Register is reporting that the amount of dollars stolen numbers in the hundreds of thousands.

In response to the hack, IPERS has reissued the benefit payments to their original destinations and suspended online access to IPERS accounts for the time being, according to the release. The Iowa Department of Criminial Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have both been contacted by IPERS to help track down the culprits, according to the release.

IPERS is asking retirees to confirm with their financial institution if they have received their October payments as soon as possible. For general concerns, or if an individual suspects something is wrong, they can contact IPERS at 1-(800)-622-3849 or by e-mail at info@ipers.org.