$550,000 of EL Taxpayer Money at Risk Due to Cyber Scam

A sophisticated cyber scam has put $550,000 of City of East Lansing funds in jeopardy, according to a press release sent out today (Oct. 25). 

The release states a city vendor’s email was compromised by an outside entity. The scammers then changed the vendor’s routing information for a payment of a legitimate bill. The city is now working with Michigan State Police (MSP) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to recover the funds and hold the responsible party accountable. 

“We want to reiterate that the integrity of the City’s departments was not compromised,” a statement from City Manager Robert Belleman read in the release. “It is thanks to the quick response and due diligence of our well-trained staff that we were able to identify this cybercrime as quickly as we did. We are confident that we are doing everything we need to do to recover the funds with the assistance of the financial institution.”

In a follow-up email with ELi, Belleman shared there were about six days between when the payment was sent and when the vendor realized it had not received the money. Belleman also said he could not share the name of the vendor, as MSP and the FBI are investigating the incident. 

For more information about this cyber scam and how to protect oneself, visit the FBI’s resource at this link. 

This is a developing story and ELi will provide more information as it becomes available.