Hackers compromise financial information for Carson City residents who pay water bill online
According to a letter sent out to a group of residents who pay their water bill online in Carson City, their financial information was compromised due to a data breach, according to City Manager Nancy Paulson.
The incident "may have involved some personal information you provided to a Carson City vendor in connection with a utility payment," Paulson states in the letter.
Carson City received a report of a security vulnerability on their third-party vendor's online payment system, Click2Gov, which impacted individuals who legitimately used their website to make payments.
The city then launched an investigation, determining that an unauthorized code was inserted into the online payment system, developed by a third-party vendor called CentralSquare Technologies, according to Paulson. The code was designed to capture payment card data and other information between the dates of Aug. 1, 2019 and Sept. 12, 2019.
Information involved in the data breach includes resident's names, addresses, email addresses, payment card numbers, expiration dates, card security code (CVV) information, bank account numbers and routing numbers.
CentralSquare worked with Carson City to immediately remove the malicious code, said Paulson, and have partnered with an outside forensics firm that specializes in cybersecurity to prevent something similar from happening in the future.
Paulson asks all residents to remain vigilant to the possibility of fraud by reviewing payment card statements and bank statements for any unauthorized charges. Report any suspicious activity to your card issuer.
For any additional information, please call 1-844-902-2027 Monday through Friday between 6 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Those who are affected will be receiving a letter delivered to their residences with all of the above information shortly.