Crime spree hits one of Trump’s top supporters in Congress

Another Republican congressman — one of former President Donald Trump’s top supporters — has lost gobs of campaign cash to cyberthieves. Troy Nehls of Texas reported that someone on July 7 made an “unauthorized” withdrawal from its campaign account, according to Federal Election Commission records reviewed by Raw Story. Nehls would later call the Democrat-dominated House select committee investigating the January 6 attack, on which Nehls was initially slated to serve, a “partisan circus” that only sought to “distract the voters from their numerous failures and do everything they can to destroy Republicans and President Trump.” ‘WHERE THE MONEY IS’ Willie Sutton once said he robbed banks “ because that’s where the money is.” Cybercriminals and check trawlers have increasingly targeted political campaigns, which often accumulate big money quickly but lack security measures that adequately safeguard their hauls. Federal records reviewed this month by Raw Story also indicate that former Rep. John Katko, a Republican who until January represented a congressional district spanning Central New York, was hit on Christmas Eve with $14,000 worth of “fraudulent bank debits.” Katko, who recently joined Washington, D.C., lobbying firm HillEast Group, according to Politico, did not respond to messages seeking comment. The Department of Homeland Security has also recently warned political committees that they are “facing cyber-attacks of varied sophistication” from “malicious actors.” The agency published guidelines for “instilling a culture of digital vigilance” to “put your team in the best position to focus on your campaign priorities instead of the consequences of a cyber incident.” Recommendations include using two-factor authentication, using stronger passwords, installing security patches for computer systems and defending against phishing attempts where scammers use emails or text messages to dupe campaign staffers into opening links or documents that contain “destructive software”.