SANDPOINT — On Tuesday, the city of Sandpoint reported that a scammer attempted to defraud a local business of $25,000 by impersonating a city staff member. The scam was identified before any payments were made and no funds were lost. 

In the scam attack, a local company seeking to create a housing, RV park and golf development in Ponderay received an email appearing to be from Sandpoint Planner Bill Dean that included detailed information about the project. 

According to a city press release, the email stated that the developer must pay a $25,000 “appeal fee” for the project. The city of Sandpoint had recently denied an application for water service for the development; at the time of the scam attack, the developer was appealing the denial.

Upon receiving the message, the developer contacted Sandpoint officials, who informed the developer that the message was fraudulent. 

“This was a sophisticated con, where a local developer, a municipal government and our very processes were targeted,” Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm said. 

To avoid scams, Grimm recommended double-checking senders’ email addresses, scrutinizing messages requesting payments or sensitive information and calling the supposed sender if any doubt exists about the message’s authenticity. 

Cyber scams attempting to defraud city, county and state governments are common across the country. Many municipalities, including the city of Sandpoint, operate programs to train staff to avoid fraudulent emails and messages. 

“Our IT department bombards us with fake phishing emails often to see if we'll click on them,” Sandpoint Planning and Community Development Director Jason Welker said. 

Employees who fall for the mock scams — which often come from email addresses that are nearly perfectly authentic — receive extra training from IT staff to ensure Sandpoint is fortified against genuine attacks. 

In November, the city of Clark Fork suffered a scam attack in which officials mistakenly transferred $483,519 to a fraudster impersonating a construction contractor’s manager. 

Clark Fork officials became aware of the fraud shortly after the payment was made and attempted to freeze the transaction. As of Dec. 18, officials have not recovered the funds; the incident is part of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service.