Protecting Your Local Government from Phishing Scams (with Rebecca Petersen of Redpath and Company)

In this episode of the Mind the GAAP podcast, Rebecca Petersen, Director in the Government Industry Practice at Redpath and Company, joined host Sean Sullivan to discuss the steps local governments can take to help avoid falling victim to phishing scams and the impact of failing to do so.

Falling victim to a phishing scam may not—unfortunately—be a question of “If?” but a question of “When?”

According to a 2023 article by Forbes magazine:

• Phishing is one of the most prevalent cybercrimes and it continues to grow.
• 500 million phishing attacks were reported in the U.S. in 2022—double the number of attacks of 2021.
• Email is typically the most commonplace scam with text messaging and phone calls becoming more prevalent.
• There were 300,000 phishing victims in the U.S. in 2022 .
• Phishing scams resulted in a total loss of $52 billion in the U.S.

Listen and find out:

• Why do local governments fall victim to phishing scams?
• What makes them vulnerable to this attack?
• What steps or best practices can local governments follow to help protect themselves?

Examples discussed:

• January 2022 - Tenino, Washington
  • Loss of $280,000
• May 2022 - Kosciusko County, Indiana
  • Loss of $300,000
• August 2022 –Portland, Oregon
  • Loss of $1.4 million
• September 2023 – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
  • Loss of $1.2 million