TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Two hundred employees with the City of Tallahassee were affected after the city's direct deposit payroll system was hacked.
According to the City of Tallahassee, officials discovered a discrepancy in its payroll process Thursday morning, immediately locked down the system, and began investigating the issue affecting approximately 200 employees.
The city’s vendor-hosted payroll system experienced a cyberattack that redirected the direct deposits. At this time, the City is saying there is no indication of any impact to external city customers or vendors.
The city’s technology department is continuing work to ensure this issue is limited to internal impacts only and that data is protected against any potential future threat.
The city is working with law enforcement and intends to take legal action in this matter pending the outcome of the investigation.
According to city officials, the employees' pay day was Friday, and everyone received their full pay.
The hack redirected $498,000 to fraudulent accounts and the city is working with its financial institution to get the money back. So far, it has recovered at least 25 percent.
The city does have insurance for this type of fraud.
This is the second time in a month the city has faced a cyberattack.
Last month, a Dropbox link was sent out from the email account of City Manager Reese Goad. The phishing email, which originated externally, contained a virus, but there does not appear to be any lingering affects, according to city officials.
Police can't share any details about the investigation, since it's open.
But they're encouraging people to learn more about financial crimes. You can do so by heading to talgov.com or consumer.ftc.gov
