Police blame cyber thieves for cash missing from Marshfield's bank account

MARSHFIELD, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Tens of thousands of dollars went missing from the town of Marshfield's bank account and Tuesday police are saying it was cyber thieves.

At Rockland Trust, the bank that holds the municipal account for the town says they recovered the $30,000 and it was returned. But Tuesday night, the police chief says they still don't know how this happened.

Chief Philip Tavares said, "We see these crimes all too often. There's lots of people that are able to hack into systems and electronically steal money and it happened in the town of Marshfield."

Tavares also said cyber thieves stole $30,000 from the town's municipal account with Rockland Trust.

"We're not not exactly sure how it happened. We're lead to believe through the limited information that we have that it was an outside source unrelated to the town," Tavares said.

The account was believed to have been hacked back in late July and Tavares says they have no evidence to suggest it was an inside job. Rockland Trust would not answer questions about the details of this incident but said in a statement: "Rockland Trust brought this matter to the town's attention and we have recovered all the funds on behalf of the town."

Security Expert Robert Siciliano said, "Chances are they probably will not catch whoever's responsible. The majority of these crimes happen cross boarders and often overseas."

Siciliano told FOX25 via Facetime that the hack can likely be traced back to a computer linked to the account. And it's more common than you think.

"Someway, somehow they have malware on their machine and or they responded to a fishing email and provided their credentials to a criminal," he said.

"It's understanding basic security protocols to protect yourselves and your constituents," he said.

Small towns need to think like small businesses, upgrading security on all computers linked to important city accounts. And speaking of that, all accounts have been checked and no personal information was jeopardized.

Cox Media Group