Philabundance loses nearly $1M in cyberattack

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia region’s largest hunger-relief group has lost nearly $1 milllion in a cyberattack.

Workers delivering food to a neighborhood church food bank Tuesday could barely believe what they were hearing as word spread that Philabundance had been victimized by cybercriminals.

It happened when the hunger relief group tried to pay a construction bill of $923,000 for its new $12 million community kitchen facility on North 10th Street in North Philly.

Someone allegedly hacked in and sent a fake invoice for the bill.

In the grips of a pandemic this year, Philabundance helped feed over 100,000 people a week, nearly double the number of people fed last year. They distribute 26 million pounds of food each year.

The CEO of Philabundance Loree Jones says the agency's online donations and donor database were not affected. Jones adds it was the agency's email system that was impacted through phishing and wire fraud.

Philabundance has taken steps to beef up its IT security since the attack. They continue to investigate along with the Philadelphia police and the FBI.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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