Breach, Threat Management, Data Security, Malware, Phishing

Phishing scam exposes W-2 forms of Keokuk, Iowa employees and officials

The small Iowan city of Keokuk has disclosed that a cybercriminal used a phishing scam to fraudulently obtain an electronic file containing the 2017 W-2 tax forms of current and former employees and elected officials.

"Upon learning of the incident, we commenced a prompt and thorough investigation, and the incident was reported to law enforcement; however, at this time, no suspect has been identified," reads an official statement from Keokuk, according to a Feb. 4 report from Tri States Public Radio. "We have confirmed that the information obtained by the unauthorized party included only 2017 Form W-2s of employees and elected officials. No credit card or bank account information was involved."

With a population of a little over 10,000, Keokuk says that in response to the Jan. 30 incident, it will offer affected individuals credit monitoring and ID theft protection services. City employees hired in 2018 are not impacted.

Bradley Barth

As director of multimedia content strategy at CyberRisk Alliance, Bradley Barth develops content for online conferences, webcasts, podcasts video/multimedia projects — often serving as moderator or host. For nearly six years, he wrote and reported for SC Media as deputy editor and, before that, senior reporter. He was previously a program executive with the tech-focused PR firm Voxus. Past journalistic experience includes stints as business editor at Executive Technology, a staff writer at New York Sportscene and a freelance journalist covering travel and entertainment. In his spare time, Bradley also writes screenplays.

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