Tarentum investigating after falling victim to online scam for nearly $140,000

Tarentum police are trying to figure out how someone managed to swindle nearly $140,000 from the borough in an online phishing scheme.

Manager Dwight Boddorf said an investigation is underway after the borough was the victim of theft through email spoofing.

Details of the theft were not released as the investigation is ongoing, Boddorf said.

“Tarentum is trying to be as transparent as possible without revealing our cybersecurity vulnerabilities for criminals to exploit,” he said. “Unfortunately, more and more cyber attacks, spoofing and phishing scams are happening at all levels of government.”

Catherine Coennen, public relations contact for the FBI Pittsburgh office, could not confirm her agency is investigating. She said that is standard procedure.

“Phishing” is when someone sends an email mimicking a reputable company to entice the recipient to give personal information that could include bank numbers, passwords or other sensitive material.

Boddorf said the incident happened in September and was reported to the bank and the municipality’s insurance broker, AWL&L.

The amount of money stolen is roughly equivalent to 1 mill in real estate taxes for the borough.

The theft still is under review by one of two insurance carriers under the broker. An initial claim was denied by one carrier, Boddorf said.

In the meantime, the borough plans to make upgrades to its computer and security systems.

The borough’s IT contractor, Up and Running Computer Services, conducted internal reviews and determined multiple measures need to be implemented.

They include additional staff training and cybersecurity insurance.

Boddorf said dual-factor authentication will begin Friday, along with more stringent email security measures.

“Trainings will occur throughout the year on cyber awareness,” he said.