Idaho Controller: Hackers stole roughly $500,000 from state

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The FBI is investigating after hackers stole as much as half a million dollars of Idaho state payments that were intended to go to state contractors.

Idaho State Controller Brandon Woolf’s office revealed the theft in a prepared statement released late Friday afternoon, saying the hackers posed as state vendors and then changed the vendor’s banking information, diverting the payments into the hackers’ bank accounts.

The fraud was first noticed by a controller’s office employee on February 26, according to the office. Few details were released about exactly how the thefts occurred, but officials said the hackers were able to change the banking information by “navigating state procedures.”

“Regular payments made to those vendors by 20 state agencies were then diverted and stolen,” the release said. “The State has recovered some of the funds to date, however, the total amount of funds diverted is under $550,000.”

Chief Deputy Controller Josh Whitworth did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press requesting comment. The office did not say which vendors were affected by the fraud.