Syracuse, NY -- A day after Syracuse Police announced a credit card fraud investigation involving Onondaga County facilities, county officials sought to reassure residents that data on the county’s computers is secure. The computer server that police think was hacked into is not part of the county’s system, said Ann Rooney, Deputy County Executive for Human Services. The server involved...
Syracuse, NY -- A day after Syracuse Police announced a credit card fraud investigation involving Onondaga County facilities, county officials sought to reassure residents that data on the county’s computers is secure.
The computer server that police think was hacked into is not part of the county’s system, said Ann Rooney, Deputy County Executive for Human Services.
The server involved is owned by Oncenter Corp., a non-profit founded in 1991 to operate county-owned entertainment venues, Rooney said. Run by a board that includes members appointed by elected county officials, Oncenter Corp. operates Oncenter, the War Memorial and the theaters within the Onondaga County Civic Center, she said.
Data on social services, property tax payments and other sensitive information is in a separate computer system that is not involved in the ongoing Syracuse police investigation, Rooney said. There have been no reports of problems with that system, she said.
Syracuse police continue to investigate reports of fraud by criminals using clones of cards that had been used at county facilities. Most of the 50 or so victims identified so far are government employees, Syracuse police Sgt. Tom Connellan said Thursday.
He urged those who may have used credit or debit cards at a county venue to carefully check their statements for the past eight to 10 months. If they find anything suspicious, he said, gather together any bank statements showing the unauthorized charges and call police at 442-5111 and call the financial institution involved.
Also on Thursday Syracuse Police Detective Anthony Colavita, of the department’s fraud investigation unit, said the Oncenter had altered its system after learning of the fraud cases. The changes make it much harder for hackers to get at the system, Colavita said.
Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.