The City of Smithville Hit by Mayor Cyber-Scam

Smithville Mayor Josh Miller has confirmed the loss of $425,000 after the city fell victim to a sophisticated “Business Email Compromise.” The city was attempting to wire funds to a vendor in Texas to purchase a 2014 fire truck. Officials say hackers intercepted the email chain and tricked the city into wiring the payment to a fraudulent account instead of the dealership. Mayor Miller emphasized that while the money was stolen, no citizen data was compromised in the incident. The TBI and the State Comptroller have been called in to investigate, and the city has filed an insurance claim in hopes of recovering the funds.