More Technical Trouble: Dallas County Lost $2.4 Million in Apparent Scam

It has been quite the year for Dallas County government when it comes to information technology. The county is now out some $2.4 million after an apparently fraudulent wire transfer. Dallas County started investigating the fake payment after it became aware of it on Nov. 17, County Administrator Darryl Martin told The Dallas Morning News.

According to the News, the investigation has since been turned over to the FBI. Whoever was behind the scam was able to use a fraudulent business email impersonating one of the county’s partners and “engaged in social engineering,” Martin said. Besides the investigation, Martin wouldn’t say what measures were being taken as a result of the scam. However, he did say the scam has nothing to do with the October ransomware attack against the county.

This is just one of the county’s latest IT failures.

At the beginning of the year, the county auctioned thousands of laptops that still had personal data on them, according to the News. Then, in mid-May, Dallas County employees started receiving incomplete paychecks, a problem that was blamed on the rollout of a new payroll system. It affected sheriff’s deputies, correctional officers, expert witnesses and other positions in the county, and led to a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

Dallas County is also still dealing with problems related to the rollout of new court management software called Odyssey. Just weeks after the new software was launched, prosecutors, public defenders and the county probation office all reported having limited access to county criminal case files. The issue stemmed from the migration of files from the old system to the new system. The problem brought the county’s criminal justice system to a near standstill and led to inmates languishing in jail longer than they should have. As a result, the jail’s population has been near 90% of capacity, and it costs about $1 million more per month to run compared to last year.

One of the latest IT failures came in the form of a hack in October. Hackers stole Dallas County data and threatened to release it if not paid a ransom. The hackers claim they’ve already released some of the data because the county hasn’t paid up.

Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins said in an emailed statement at the time: “We want to assure everyone that we are taking this matter seriously. Our top priority is the security and privacy of all individuals associated with Dallas County."

He said the county is investigating the hack and working with law enforcement to address the issue.