Inside Payroll Fraud: Steve Lenderman on Modern Threats, Old Mistakes, and What HR Still Doesn’t See Coming

This isn’t about phishing emails or stolen credit cards. This is payroll fraud—organized, scaled, and already inside your systems.

Live from isolved Connect in Chicago, fraud prevention leader Steve Lenderman sits down with William Tincup to reveal the silent crisis sweeping payroll operations. From transnational crime rings and deepfakes to credential farming and spoofed login portals, this episode unpacks the tactics that make fraud not just inevitable—but invisible.

Steve breaks down what most HR teams get wrong, why prevention isn't just an IT job, and what it really takes to protect employee data and paychecks. Forget the hoodie-wearing hacker trope—these are structured organizations with org charts and playbooks.

If your payroll process still relies on passwords, hope, or outdated KYC checks, this one’s required listening.

Timestamps:

00:00 — Meet Steve Lenderman, Head of Fraud Prevention at isolved

01:04 — Why fraudsters are targeting payroll, not just banks

02:16 — The business of fraud: organized crime and economic desperation

04:01 — Pirates, playbooks, and the modern model of digital theft

06:02 — Why most KYC programs don’t actually prevent fraud

08:26 — Continuous monitoring and perpetual KYC

11:00 — Biometric authentication and passkeys: the future of security

14:33 — ACH transfers, onboarding errors, and Nacha compliance

16:07 — What payroll gets wrong that HR can’t afford to

18:10 — Top security hygiene tips for every HR practitioner

22:00 — Credential farming, SEO poisoning, and the rise of GenAI-powered scams

This conversation was recorded live at isolved Connect in Chicago.

The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved. isolved is an HCM platform that modernizes HR, benefits, and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and more.

You can learn more about isolved here: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

Connect with the guest:

• Steve Lenderman LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-lenderman/

• Website: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/

Connect with Us:

• William Tincup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/

• Ryan Leary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/

Connect with us on social:

• Site: http://www.wrkdefined.com

• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wrkdefined

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wrkdefined

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WRKdefined/

• Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/WRKdefined

• Substack: https://wrkdefined.substack.com/