Town hall fraud thwarted

Published by admin on Fri, 10/20/2017 - 12:02
By: 
By Ethan Brogan (ethan@glenrockind.com)
“There was zero chance that we would have complied with their request” - Mayor Doug Frank
The town of Glenrock fell victim to a fraud attempt last week.
Treasurer Kelly Lewis received an email from mayor Doug Frank asking if she was in the office. 
Lewis responded only to find the next email was requesting a wire transfer of  more than $12,000. Frank said he needed the money to pay bills and claims for the town. Lewis called Frank and he told her he had never sent an email.
Turns out, the email wasn’t from Frank. It was actually from a man in Michigan trying to scam a serious amount of cash out of Glenrock.
“I received a perfectly normal email, (I) responded to it. Something just didn’t feel quite right,” Lewis said. “Tammy here in the office and I visited and decided it probably wasn’t quite normal. She got a hold of Doug.”
Frank got the call and was confused for a moment about what Lewis was talking about.
“Somebody spoofed my email address,” Frank said. “There were some other signs with it that made it look a little less authentic.”
Recently, a slew of fraud reports have poured in throughout Converse County, so many that Rocky Mountain Power issued a release warning citizens about scammers posing as RMP over the phone. 
“Even a town can be a victim,” Glenrock Police Chief Tim Hurd said. 
GPD has been working with Michigan police to subpoena the IP address of the scammer in hopes of finding his location. 
Hurd stressed the importance of education on fraud. Knowing what tactics scammers are using is one of the best ways to stay on top.
The GPD is even sponsoring a fraud informational program from 3-5 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. Oct. 19 at the police station. 
The system of checks and balances in the town are what helped keep the money safe. 
“There was zero chance that we would have complied with their request,” Frank said.

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