Overview
- City staff discovered an unauthorized ACH payment that had been sent to a fraudulent account impersonating a vendor, with the single transfer of $913,839.81 occurring on Feb. 12 and the issue flagged by staff on Feb. 17.
- Police froze the receiving account immediately after the fraud was identified, which allowed officials to recover $696,241 and to seek roughly $217,598 through the city’s cyber and crime insurance.
- Investigators executed 18 search warrants that covered 116 accounts at major tech, financial and telecom firms and say the probe identified a primary suspect based in Nigeria alongside at least two U.S.-based affiliated suspects.
- The Pittsburg Police Department, Contra Costa County authorities, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office are continuing the active domestic and overseas investigation while the city cooperates with federal prosecutors.
- In response, the city tightened payment verification, changed financial workflow controls and adjusted IT staffing, a move that reflects how vendor-impersonation phishing has repeatedly targeted local governments and can prompt broader insurance and banking scrutiny.