SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) — Hackers allegedly stole over $8,000 in paychecks following an email hack from an Upstate fire department.
According to the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to the Reidville Fire Department located at 3380 Hwy 417 on a report of fraud/payroll theft.
Once deputies arrived on the scene, they spoke with Fire Chief Patrick Evatt.
Evatt told deputies that six members of the fire department failed to receive their direct deposit on Wednesday.
Deputies said they discovered that someone hacked and/or gained remote access to the Assistant Chief’s employee email and gained access to employee direct deposit information and payroll accounts.
The unknown subject(s) then edited the direct deposit information of the six employees resulting in their payroll earnings being deposited into reloadable pre-paid debit cards.
The sheriff’s office said a total of $8,156 was taken from the firemen.
A CPA firm Greene Finney and Cauley, which manages payroll for the fire department said the IP addresses related to illegal sign-in to the assistant chief’s account were traced back to Nigeria, California and Florida.
The CPA firm has requested reimbursement for the Readvile Area Fire District from the banks connected to the fraudulent activity.
All six firefighters received their paycheck 24 hours later than normal.