Hundreds of thousands of dollars were stolen from the campaign of Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) by a cybercriminal, his campaign office said in a filing to the Federal Election Commission.
Driving the news: A campaign spokesperson told NBC News that the FBI has opened an investigation into the matter.
- Moran’s campaign said in the filing from December that the campaign sent two fraudulent wire invoices that totaled $690,000.
- One wire payment was sent on Oct. 25 for $345,000, while another was sent for the same amount on Nov. 9, according to the filing.
- On Nov. 23, the campaign recovered $168,184 of the stolen funds.
- Raw Story first reported on the letter.
What they're saying: “Cybercriminals targeted the accounting firm employed by Moran For Kansas and money was wired to fraudulent bank accounts,” Tom Brandt, the spokesperson for Moran for Kansas, told NBC News.
- Brandt told NBC that the campaign is “pursuing all avenues available to recover the money” and that the FBI has opened an investigation.
- “The campaign also consulted with the FEC on how to transparently report the unauthorized expenditures,” he said.
- The FBI told Axios it is "aware of the incident" but they would not confirm an investigation into the alleged theft.
The big picture: Cyberattacks against political campaign funding emerged as a growing threat in the 2018 midterms, Axios previously reported. Some of the tactics included transferring money or cutting off donations.
More from Axios:
The newest target in political cyberattacks: campaign pocketbooks
