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Elizabeth's avatar

Are any local officials subscribers, free or otherwise, to the Sebastopol Times? It is easier to post a comment to one of your published stories than it is to log on to the City website. But I hope that City representatives (and County too) get to see this public input. Thank you for your local news coverage!

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Laura Hagar Rush's avatar

Yes, I am happy to say that many public officials are free or paid subscribers to the Sebastopol Times. :-)

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Blue Blood's avatar

I am so glad to learn this. I hope the people who were phished successfully learned their lesson and are passing it to other financial officials.

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Elizabeth's avatar

Hmm, when the details of how this fraudulent transfer occurred at the County finance offices, one begins to wonder if it wasn't an inside job. Has the County scrutinized their internal practices and personnel? It took a lot of insider information to stage the falsified withdrawal request. If not dishonesty from within, the County's computers were compromised by bad actors on the outside - and greater security measures are needed. Perhaps the insurance companies have already pointed out the need to take preventive measures against a reoccurence.

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Laura Hagar Rush's avatar

They had protocols in place; it seems that in this one case, they didn't follow some of them. But they've added a new layer: Now, when Sebastopol wants to make a withdrawl, the county literally calls the city manager to maker sure it's legit.

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Elizabeth's avatar

Do investigators believe the $1.2 MM ended up in some outlaw country? Or is someone padding their salary? The next time they will target a different depositor. Has the County's transfer protocol and/or staff training been strengthened to avert a repeat with a different target?

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Laura Hagar Rush's avatar

All good questions for a longer piece.

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