A week and a half after $48,220 was lost in an email spoof scam, Platte County leaders say more than half of the taxpayer money has been recovered.
On Tuesday, Platte County Treasurer Rob Willard explained that the cyber criminal's bank was able to stop a transfer of $28,205.37 from going through and return the money to Platte County.
"I'm relieved some of the money has come back, but we still have a long way to go," Willard said.
The crime was reported on May 27 by Willard after he fell for an email spoof. According to Willard, an email came in from an account he thought belonged to Platte County Presiding Commissioner Ron Schieber. The email urgently asked for a wire transfer of $48,220 to help pay for consulting fees.
"My first thought is, I missed this email from Ron," Willard said. "We were running up against a deadline and were coming up on the holiday [Memorial Day]."
Due to the urgency and timing of the email, Willard went through with the transfer. However, it was all a scam.
"In this case, I made a mistake," explained Willard. "It's going to haunt me for the rest of my life."
On Tuesday, Willard showed the email messages. In total, 19 emails were exchanged between Willard and the man he thought was Schieber.
Later on Tuesday, Schieber said that the email spoof was a "black eye" for Platte County. He explained that county leaders are now reviewing policies and procedures to make sure a similar incident does not happen again.
Schieber noted that investigators are continuing to work on recovering more of the money that was lost.
How to avoid these types of cyber crimes
The incident in Platte County shined a light on the dangers of cyber crimes in the metro area.
"It just shows the lengths people will go to get access or money," explained John Lovell, a risk consultant with Cobbs Allen.
Lovell said the mistake that Willard made in late May could happen to anyone.
As a way to prevent cyber crimes from happening, Lovell has made presentations and offered advice to businesses and people around the metro area.
For businesses, Lovell said one of the best prevention measures is to have a protocol in place dealing with proper email procedures.
"It's about being proactive," he explained. "It's about understanding what threats are out there and making sure your employees are empowered and know how to act when they are susceptible to some of those hacks."
He said holding "test hacks" at companies could lead to better preparedness.
"When someone starts asking for information, that's when you want to have that protocol with your employees," Lovell said.
For individuals, Lovell said people could do the following to help avoid being scammed:
- Update passwords on a regular basis.
- Be cautious of giving out personal information to anyone.
- Never send personal information over email.
For a list of other tips on how to be prepared for a cyber crime, visit the Cobbs Allen cyber crime help page.
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Tom Dempsey can be reached at Tom.Dempsey@KSHB.com.
