Email scam defrauds school board of $846,864.86 - all but $67,260.86 recovered
Citrus County Sheriff's Office (CCSO)
March 31, 2025
Citrus County, Florida - The Citrus County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) is actively investigating a sophisticated fraud scheme that targeted the Citrus County School Board and resulted in fraudulent transfers totaling $846,864.86.
School board officials were alerted by a trusted vendor that an expected payment for a construction project had not been received. Upon review, the school board confirmed that the payment had been made; however, it was later discovered that a fraudulent party had emulated the vendor's email and provided a falsified account number.
This type of cyber fraud, commonly known as business email compromise (BEC), occurs when an unauthorized person gains unauthorized access to email communications to impersonate legitimate entities in order to divert funds.
Upon learning what had happened, school board officials immediately notified the Citrus County Sheriff's Office.
"The moment we discovered this was a fraudulent transaction, we immediately contacted our partners at the Citrus County Sheriff's Office," said Dr. Scott Hebert, Citrus County Superintendent of Schools. "Their swift response, along with the expertise of the United States Secret Service, was instrumental in recovering the majority of the stolen funds."
Detective Josh Cutlip with the CCSO High-Tech Crimes Unit immediately launched an investigation and enlisted the assistance of the United States Secret Service (USSS), an agency the CCSO maintains a strong partnership with and relies on in cases of this magnitude.
Within days of initiating the investigation, the USSS successfully identified and froze $779,604.00 in two separate bank accounts outside of Florida. These funds were later seized, and efforts are ongoing to locate the remaining $67,260.86. Based on current findings, investigators believe the suspect is operating outside of Florida and has no known ties to the Citrus County School Board.
"As with any criminal case, my priority is to the victims in the case, whether that is a person, business, or government agency," said Citrus County Sheriff David Vincent. "This case could have been a significant financial loss to our local school district; our priority was locating the funds and securing them. Revealing information too early in a complex case like this could have given the suspects the upper hand in realizing we were on to them. While many have argued that transparency was an issue in this case, I would counter, that with successful prosecution, protecting victims and recovering stolen property for victims will always be my priority in cases like these. If that means waiting until evidence is secured, property is recovered, and everything wrapped up in a package with a bow for prosecutors, so be it. We cannot thank our Federal Partners at the United States Secret Service enough for their quick actions in this case and for the issuance of seizure warrants on those bank accounts, which occurred today, recovering $779,604K of the $846,864.86 stolen through a malicious phishing email with a legitimate contractor of services."
"This case remains under active investigation by the Citrus County Sheriff's Office and the United States Secret Service," said David M. DeCarlo, Executive Director, CCSO Office of Community Engagement and Transparency. "Once the investigation is complete, all recovered funds will be returned to the Citrus County School Board. The swift action of the United States Secret Service prevented a significant financial loss, and the Citrus County Sheriff's Office appreciates their continued partnership in combating financial crimes."
"This is another example where close cooperation and developing robust partnerships is critical to accomplishing our shared goal of protecting the nation's financial infrastructure," said Caroline O'Brien Buster, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Orlando Field Office. "The immediate investigative actions taken by the Citrus County Sheriff's Office and the Secret Service prevented legitimate funds from getting into the wrong hands. We are thankful for our partnership with the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, and together with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to investigate and pursue those who engage in financial fraud."
"The security of our financial resources is paramount, as they directly support our students, staff, and schools," said Superintendent Hebert. "We've put additional safeguards in place, such as updating our incident response plan and make [sic] sure we have a clear protocol for how to detect, report, and respond to cyber incidents. We are also providing additional cyber security awareness training for all school district staff and are committed to a safe and secure digital environment to prevent future attacks. Again, we appreciate the dedication of law enforcement in protecting our district and our community."
Anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact the Citrus County Sheriff's Office non-emergency line at (352) 249-2790, or submit a phone tip anonymously through Crime Stoppers of Citrus County at 1-866-ANY-TIPS (1-866-269-8477).