City of La Marque finance employee loses $15,000–$20,000 to phishing scam impersonating vendor

Summary

The City of La Marque, Texas, lost between $15,000 and $20,000 in a phishing scam in December. A new finance employee mistakenly made a payment to a suspected cyberthief who impersonated a vendor. The error was discovered during a routine audit weeks later, and the employee was fired. No arrests have been made, and the stolen money has not been recovered. The city is investigating but has not identified any other involved employees. A similar scam occurred in Galveston, where an employee sent $700,000 to a fraudster posing as a truck company, and the perpetrator was later arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison.