The City of Arab is working with federal authorities to investigate a phishing scam that cost the City over $432,730.
An unauthorized entity conducted a sophisticated, socially engineered scheme to impersonate an officer at FITE Construction, the company building the city's new recreation center. The scammer received the fraudulent payments.
An internal review confirmed the scheme did not include personal data, employee information or citizen information.
The Arab Police Department, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the United States Secret Service are investigating.
Arab Mayor Bob Joslin released a statement saying the City is working to recover the money.
"The incident was strictly limited to one financial transaction involving invoicing," Joslin stated. "The City has implemented additional safeguards and enhanced verification procedures to prevent similar incidents in the future."
Joslin said other municipalities and school systems nationwide have been victimized, and it appears the perpetrators are working from overseas.
"The City of Arab is deeply concerned about the theft of taxpayer funds and is committed to pursuing every available avenue to recover the money and hold those responsible accountable," Joslin added. "We want to reassure our citizens, employees, vendors, and community partners that this was an isolated financial scheme involving invoice fraud and did not involve a breach of personal or confidential information."
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