SASKATOON—The City of Saskatoon says it has lost $1 million in an online scam.
City manager Jeff Jorgenson says a fraudster electronically impersonated the chief financial officer of a construction company that has a contract with the city.
He says the culprit asked to have a payment sent to a new bank account and the city complied.
Jorgenson says the city is reviewing its financial controls to make sure it is secure from future attacks.
“The attacks are always there. They’re always changing,” he said at a news conference Thursday.
“The fraudsters are becoming more and more sophisticated, and our controls and systems have to become more and more sophisticated as well.”
Mayor Charlie Clark said the city decided to go public with the fraud to be up front with taxpayers and warn others so it doesn’t happen to them.