FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — Following the St. Johns County government's announcement on Tuesday that they were the victim of a $1.1 million cyberattack, about $719,000 was taken from Flagler County Schools Wednesday, according to a Flagler County Sheriff's Office spokesperson.
The money taken from the school district was money that was supposed to go to a contractor for the expansion of Mantanzas High School in Palm Coast, the FCSO spokesperson told First Coast News. The sheriff's office says the contractor came to collect their payment and didn't receive it.
FCSO says they do not know whether the cyberattack was committed by a group or individual; Sheriff Rick Staly says it's likely a foreign operator.
The sheriff's office says they do not believe the school district will be able to get its money back because of the time it took to notice the fraud as they will however, conduct a forensic autopsy on a district computer to see what it reveals. Staly will not be releasing a timeline of events of what happened in the cybercrime, the FCSO spokesperson said.