Town Of Plymouth Scammed Out Of $200K, Mayor's Office Says

PLYMOUTH, CT — The town of Plymouth fell victim to a "social engineering scam" which resulted in the loss of more than $200,000, according to the mayor's office. A top town official has resigned, the mayor's office confirmed.

In a Facebook post, Plymouth CT Mayor's Office, Joseph Kilduff, wrote: "I regret to inform the Town of Plymouth that we recently fell victim to what is called a “social engineering scam.”

"It appears that one of our vendors was hacked by some fraudulent actors over a month ago and did not notice the breach," the mayor's post reads. "The scammers had access to project information and began sending the Finance Department what appeared to be accurate invoices.

"Unfortunately, the invoices came with incorrect payment instructions that were not properly verified by the Finance Department," the mayor wrote. "Two (2) payments in the amount of $104,150.00 were sent and have yet to be returned.

"The matter has been reported to our Local PD, the FBI and our insurance company and is currently under investigation," the mayor added. "There is no suspicion of criminal activity by any town employee and if we do experience a loss, it will be covered by our insurance. Our fund balance continues to get healthier, and this will have no impact on our ability to maintain services or pay our obligations. I recently met with Finance Director and we mutually agreed that it was in the best interest of the Town of Plymouth that she tender her resignation effective immediately. A search for a new Finance Director will begin promptly and Twin Lakes Consulting, who already consults with us for Tech and HR services, has agreed to help us in the interim."