Fergie's Tech Blog

Cyberthieves Steal $449K From California City Coffers

Todd R. Weiss writes on ComputerWorld:

In a bold move, a thief or thieves stole $449,000 from the city of Carson, Calif., but the eagle-eyed city treasurer noticed the actions and called police.

The incidents occurred last Wednesday and Thursday, when City Treasurer Karen Avilla noticed that $90,500 was transferred out of the city's general fund bank account to an unknown recipient, according to police reports filed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Avilla hadn't made or authorized the transfer, so she contacted officials at City National Bank in Beverly Hills, who told her that the money had been transferred to a person named Deado Smith using BT&T North Carolina Bank.

The second unauthorized transaction, for $358,500, was made the next day, when a transfer was made to a company called Broadbase Financial using National City Bank, according to the sheriff's department report. Again, Avilla said she did not authorize or make the transfer.

Avilla said today that she discovered both illegal transfers when she made her daily inspections of the city's bank account balances online.

posted by Fergie @ 5/31/2007 08:56:00 PM