City of Liberty targeted in $600,000 payment fraud scheme

The City of Liberty has fallen victim to a fraudulent wire transfer totaling approximately $600,000 after receiving a payment request from an email address impersonating a legitimate vendor.

According to a statement released by the City, the fraudulent payment request came from a lookalike email domain designed to closely resemble that of a vendor to whom the City owed money. The transfer was completed before the receiving bank flagged the transaction as potentially fraudulent and alerted the City’s bank.

“The City had a legitimate outstanding obligation to the vendor in the amount of the transfer. This legitimate debt contributed to the initial assessment of the validity of the payment request,” the statement said.

City officials emphasized that the incident did not involve a breach of the City’s internal computer network.

“The City’s internal network was not compromised; this isolated incident appears to have originated from an external source using a domain designed to closely resemble the vendor’s legitimate email address,” the statement said.

The Liberty Police Department is working with federal law enforcement agencies to investigate the incident. According to the City, neither the vendor nor any of the legitimate parties involved in the original transaction, including City officials and consultants, is suspected of wrongdoing.

The City has filed a claim with its insurance carrier related to the cybersecurity incident and has strengthened its vendor payment verification procedures.

“Due to the ongoing investigation, we are unable to provide additional comments or details at this time,” the City said.

Officials said the City will continue cooperating with federal law enforcement as the investigation continues.