Innisfil mayor’s email compromised by malicious phishing scam requesting money

The mayor’s account was compromised Tuesday, after a link was opened from an email that appeared to come from a trusted external organization.

The Town of Innisfil is urging residents to ignore any odd emails appearing to come from Mayor Lynn Dollin requesting money after her municipal account was compromised by a phishing scam earlier this week.

The issue surfaced Tuesday shortly after a link was opened from an email that appeared to come from a ‘trusted external organization.’

Town officials say the message was a sophisticated phishing attempt. Once the link was clicked, it automatically generated similar emails to people in the mayor’s contact list.

“We do not know the origin of the phish but believe it was received by many organizations across the region,” said the town in a statement to CTV News.

The incident was contained to Mayor Dollin’s email account and was not a targeted attack against her or the municipality, officials confirmed.

Her account was quickly isolated, and the town’s cyber response protocols were activated.

“Our team took immediate action to assess the situation and isolate the threat from this malicious email. At this point we are able to confirm that no confidential or personal information was accessed, and town operations have not been impacted,” said Oliver Jerschow, CAO.

As a precaution, the town issued a notice on the mayor’s social media and contacted people on her email list, advising them not to engage with any suspicious messages.

In a post shared Feb. 17 at 9:48 a.m. on Facebook, Mayor Dollin wrote, “SPAM ALERT. IGNORE EMAILS FROM MY TOWN EMAIL ASKING FOR MONEY. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.”

Officials say there was no breach of municipal systems. “There has not been a need for police involvement, as there was no takeover of town systems,” concluded the town.