Hackers steal $491K from Orange Park's bank account by Brittany Dionne

ORANGE PARK, Fla. -- Cyber thieves targeted the town of Orange Park and almost get away with nearly half-a-million dollars.

Town manager Jim Hanson said the money was stolen from the town's Wells Fargo bank account after the towns's computer system was hacked.

That money has since been recovered but no arrests have been made.

The FBI has been called in to investigate.

"It got transferred out of our bank to another bank by wire, and it happened very rapidly. It took less than 30 minutes," Hanson said

Approximately $491,000 was swiped from the town's bank account on Friday, February 13th.

Hansen explained the hackers got into an employee's email account and sent virus infected attachments to key personnel.

"A lot of our employees opened it and they shouldn't have," Hanson said.

The virus spread quickly and hackers eventually gained access to the town's Wells Fargo Bank account.

"Our staff found it and got Wells Fargo on the phone," Hanson recalled.

Town Leaders were on edge that entire weekend, hoping they had caught the transaction in time.

By that following Tuesday, Wells Fargo was able to reverse the transfer and put the money back into the town's account.

"Is the information of citizens of Orange Park at risk?" reporter Brittany Dionne asked.

"No, absolutely not," Hanson replied.

Town leaders were tight lipped about who the FBI believes could be behind the cyber-attack.

We've reached out to the FBI we will update this story when they reply.

Hansen says the town has already taken steps to make its computer systems more secure.

Read more; https://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/local/2015/03/09/cyber-thieves-target-orange-park-bank/24682713/