The town of Plymouth, Connecticut, recently fell victim to a sophisticated “social engineering scam” that resulted in a loss of approximately $208,000, according to Mayor Joseph Kilduff. The incident has led to the resignation of the town’s finance director, although half of the stolen funds have since been recovered.
Conn Mayor Scam $208K : Scam Details and Impact on Town
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Mayor Kilduff revealed that Plymouth’s finance department had unknowingly sent two payments, each totaling $104,150, to scammers posing as a legitimate vendor. The fraudsters gained access to project information, enabling them to send invoices that appeared accurate and legitimate. Unfortunately, the finance department processed these payments without verifying the invoices, resulting in the significant financial loss.
“I regret to inform the Town of Plymouth that we recently fell victim to what is called a ‘social engineering scam,'” Kilduff stated. He explained that the scammers had breached one of the town’s vendors over a month before, and the vendor failed to detect the hack in time to prevent the fraudulent payments.
Social Engineering and Recovery Efforts
Social engineering is a manipulation technique used by cybercriminals to exploit human error, often leading to unauthorized access to sensitive information or finances. According to cybersecurity experts, these attacks prey on predictable human behavior, making them particularly effective.
