City of Clark Fork recovers $190K of $480K lost in scam attack
ERIC WELCH | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 months, 3 weeks AGO
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CLARK FORK — In an April 17 open letter to residents, Clark Fork Mayor Russell Schenck had good news to share — almost half of the funds lost in a November 2024 scam attack have been returned to the city.
Since Clark Fork personnel mistakenly paid a scammer impersonating a manager for a construction company that had recently done work for the city almost half a million dollars last year, officials have been working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Umpqua Bank to recoup the funds. Umpqua was recently able to recover $192,937 of the $483,519 payment and return the money to Clark Fork.
Schenck stated in the letter that although the bank initially told city officials it would likely be unable to recover the stolen funds, “they continued working hard behind the scenes.”
Since recovering the money, Schenck wrote that Clark Fork has passed the funds on to Noble Excavating, Inc., the construction company city officials had intended to pay when the scam attack occurred.
He added that Clark Fork would continue to limit public dissemination of information related to the incident to avoid interfering with the FBI’s ongoing examination.
“The City remains hopeful that at the conclusion of the federal investigation, the threat actor may be identified and the funds returned,” he wrote, pointing to a similar incident in which the city of Gooding in southern Idaho was, with help from the FBI, able to recoup a majority of the nearly $1.1 million staff mistakenly transferred to a scammer in June 2024.
“We appreciate the understanding and assistance of our citizens through this process and will continue to work diligently behind the scenes to protect the financial interests of our citizens,” Schenck added.
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