County transportation commission scammed out of $1.4 million

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RENO — A Washoe County transportation agency says it has lost $1.4 million in an email fraud scheme.

The Regional Transportation Commission announced in a news release Wednesday that it became aware of the scam on Oct. 27.

The agency says it received an email from what appeared to be a vendor asking for an electronic payment and then transferred the requested money on Oct. 18.

The commission contacted federal authorities after learning it was a fraudulent email. It’s now working to recover the funds.

RTC spokeswoman Michael Moreno says the email came from someone claiming to be with Granite Construction and that the RTC actually owed the company $1.4 million. Granite never received the money.

The commission says none of its systems have been affected or compromised by the scam.

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