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By Timothy Page
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. — The Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD), Vermont’s largest solid waste management entity, has fallen victim to a highly sophisticated phishing scam, losing $3 million—nearly 20% of its $15.6 million fiscal year 2026 budget.
The fraud occurred during payments related to the ongoing construction of a new Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) in Williston. Scammers impersonated CSWD’s legitimate construction partner by sending emails with “nearly identical” addresses and even including a photo of a real finance team member. This tricked experienced staff into wiring two payments totaling $3 million to cover what they believed was a past-due invoice and a current one.
The scheme was uncovered when the actual construction partner notified CSWD that they had not received the funds for those invoices. Sarah Reeves, CSWD’s Executive Director, described it as a “highly sophisticated scam that misled even experienced and trained staff,” adding, “We are devastated.” Officials emphasized that the MRF project will continue uninterrupted and is on track for completion in early 2027, with additional safeguards now being implemented to prevent future incidents.
CSWD is sharing the story publicly to warn other municipalities, organizations, and businesses to double- or triple-check transactions. Vermont’s Attorney General reportedly believes this may be the largest amount ever lost to a phishing scam in the state. No details on recovery efforts, specific law enforcement involvement, or arrests were immediately available.
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Categories: Business, Public Safety
I wonder if Vermont’s Attorney General Charity Clark could be reached for comment regarding her efforts to investigate this matter and recover the funds…or was her time too occupied by suing the Trump Administration for something or other.
The key word here is “wiring”. I am aware of another recent scam where the victim “wired” funds. Think of it everyone. “Wiring” funds is just not commonly done. When did you last pay a bill, any bill, by “wiring” funds.
Just…don’t…”wire”…funds to anyone…ever.
Not defending the mistake, but when is the last time you paid a $1.5M bill? Pretty sure you did not use BillPay, or Zelle.
Don’t worry Burlington. I have a feeling that somehow or the other the taxpayers of the rest of the State of Vermont will bail out your incompent arses !
Again !
Don’t these people know what a scam is? In my business I was always contacted regarding scam. On from Nigeria they had $50 million they needed to get out of their country. If I gave them a bank account number, they would wire $5 million into the account (numbers and routing) to see if the process is working. YUP. Just reported them to the State banking Dept and local cops.
Yet a lawyer somewhere like Iowa or Nebraska fell for it and lost $50,000. Greedy Lawyers. Happy days.
Wow, “sending emails with “nearly identical” addresses and even including a photo of a real finance team member.” was able to fool “experienced and trained staff,” Imagine that, they even included a picture talk about sophistication.
Iran probably did it as they most likely have all of the Epstein files that you are not allowed to see.
La, La, La, Vermonts Diversity, Equity and inclusion Hirees aren’t smart enough to pick up a telephone and call the Real Contractor before sending millions.
I’d gamble this is no innocent mistake.
Nobody with any form of personal responsibility would blindly screw up to such an extent .
Being a retired accountant, my question is why would anybody be stupid enough to pay a bill without confirming that the work was done or items purchased were received. To do that to the tune of $3,000,000 is crazy. Apparently the CWSDs “experienced and well trained staff” was neither nor.
It’s hard to find good help in any industry these days between the post-COVID laziness and DEI hiring policies.