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Pender County outlines response after roughly $581,000 redirected in ACH fraud
Summary
County manager described a mid‑September ACH fraud that redirected roughly $581,000 in payments meant for Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority; county filed an IC3 complaint, engaged law enforcement and the state auditor, and tightened Munis vendor‑change controls and phishing training.
Pender County officials on Jan. 5 publicly described steps taken after an attempted ACH scam that led to at least one large payment being sent to fraudulent banking information.
County Manager Colby Sawyer said the incident began in mid‑to‑late September when staff received an invoice from the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority for about $581,000 that was followed by an apparently legitimate request to change the vendor's banking information. “We made that change on October 1,” Sawyer said in the meeting. Subsequent invoices were paid to the altered account before county staff and the vendor realized something was wrong in December, he said.
Sawyer said finance staff discovered the discrepancy…
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