Wichita Chamber employees fall victim to phishing scam

The Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce felt victim to a phishing scam that revealed critical employee information.

Chamber president Gary Plummer said that a week ago he was asked by a staff member if he had received the information he requested.

“I said ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’” Plummer said.

It turns out an unknown scammer sent an e-mail requesting the W-2s on all 2015 employees but disguised it as coming from Plummer.

Plummer said they immediately notified affected employees, advised them on what to do to protect themselves. The chamber is enrolling them all in Lifelock, an identity theft service.

Unfortunately for Plummer, and some others, the scammers have already filed for tax refunds in their name.

He described falling for the phishing attack as “an honest mistake.”

“It’s one of those things we have to live with and learn from,” he said. “The good news is it didn’t reveal any information from any of the members, just the employees.”

This story was originally published March 10, 2016 at 5:55 PM with the headline "Wichita Chamber employees fall victim to phishing scam."