Eastern Iowa Town Center of $500K Hacking Scandal

It's something straight out of a Netflix movie...

Dyersville city officials confirmed that they had been victims of a highly sophisticated hacking. This incident resulted in more than half a million dollars being stolen from the county and city.

Officials confirm that this is an ongoing investigation.

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Here's What Happened...

According to reports, the Dubuque County Sheriff's Department received a strange notification on Thursday, February 22nd. Officials said that there was an issue with the transfer of funds from the county to the city of Dyersville.

Someone had requested specific funds be transferred and the county approved it. When the city did not receive the payment, that's when some red flags were raised.

In a statement from the Dubuque County Sheriff, Joseph Kennedy, this crime was the result of a highly sophisticated hack.

This person or group of people, hacked the system and sent out legitimate messages from a person's real email address.

County Auditor Kevin Dragotto confirmed in a report that the city's email system was compromised and this hack was “orchestrated by a third party.”

Just How Much Money Was Taken?

Officials are saying that $524,283.88 was transferred to the hacker. These funds were approved by the American Rescue Plan Act and were to be used by Dyersville for projects to improve the community.

One of the key factors of this investigation is figuring out who was behind this hack. It's nearly impossible to determine any suspect until the half a million dollars is taken to a bank.

Officials admit that this investigation may take months, and if the money is transferred overseas then it could be gone for good.

”You can’t get a bank account without an ID and without paperwork so really what you try to do is chase the money around from bank to bank hoping you can catch it still within the continental United States," Sheriff Kennedy said in a statement.

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