Louisiana Hospital Wires Over $200,000 to Scammer

The hospital in Mamou, Louisiana wired over $200,000 to a scammer after someone posed as a vendor.

Our media partners at KATC TV-3 report that Savoy Medical Center wired more than $225,000 to a scammer posing as a vendor.

According to the report, the scammer hacked into the vendor's email and was able to alter the payment instructions in the monthly bill. As a result, $226,330 was wired to the scammer to pay the monthly bill.

Initially, the hospital thought that it was making payment to a vendor, without knowing that a scammer hacked into the vendor's email account.

Once management at the hospital realized that the vendor never received payment, authorities were notified and the investigation was underway.

According to the auditor, Savoy Medial was able to recover only $81,819 of the money, but $144,511 was gone. Wire fraud isn't covered by insurance, thus that is why only a portion of what was sent was able to be paid back to the medical facility in Mamou.

The auditor recommends that the facility implement a new policy to confirm payments, and not just an email reply saying payment has been made.

KATC reports that management at Savoy Medical "has modified vendor information to ensure changes are confirmed with the appropriate vendor representative."

To read the entire audit, visit KATC

This is another reminder to always be careful when submitting payments online, and remember to never give anyone your personal information online or on social media. You should also never give financial information to anyone who calls you saying that you owe them money.