Federal officials have seized just over $1.1 million that they say was traced to a cyber attack that defrauded the New Haven Board of Education out of nearly $6 million earlier this year.
The U.S. Attorney’s office and the FBI on Thursday filed a civil asset forfeiture complaint against the funds — which total about $1,187,677 — following the seizure, according to federal authorities. The complaint seeks to return the money to the City of New Haven.
New Haven’s Board of Education earlier this year fell victim to a cyber scam that saw a management member for the board mistakenly pay $5.9 million to what was believed to be a school bus company contracted with the city that turned out to be hackers who had mimicked the bus company through a fake email address, according to federal officials. About $3.6 million of the stolen money was recovered prior to Thursday’s forfeiture complaint.
Connecticut school district lost more than $6 million in cyber attack, so far gotten about half back
“Despite the advanced level of these particular cyber schemes, our highly trained law enforcement officers and agents have been able to effectively uncover and stop the ongoing financial losses and recover funds for the City of New Haven,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Fuller said in a statement Thursday. “Our ongoing focus will continue to be protecting those that remain vulnerable to cyber intrusion and fraud.”
Federal officials said “criminal actors” who were able to compromise an email account associated with a member of the management team of New Haven’s Board of Education created a fake email account in June, mimicking an email address associated with a bus company contracted with the city, that allowed the hackers to change the bus company’s payment information to an account belonging to those involved in the scam.
“While we will continue to pursue criminal prosecution of the individuals involved in this scam, recovering the victim’s money is a priority,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut Vanessa Roberts Avery said in a statement. “Civil asset forfeiture allows the U.S. Attorney’s office to recover money for victims of fraud, such as business email compromises, romances scams, confidence scams and other crimes.
“As these fraud schemes often involve conversion of U.S. currency to digital assets, this process typically involves significant law enforcement resources and specialized training,” Avery said. “In recent years, through the civil asset forfeiture process, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut has recovered millions of dollars for Connecticut victims, most of whom do not have the means nor the expertise to trace the money.”
