Wisconsin Republican Party’s chairman Andrew Hitt told the press that Hackers stole $2.3 million from the Wisconsin Republican Party’s account that was being used to help reelect President Donald Trump in the key battleground state.
Hitt further said the party noticed the suspicious activity and contacted the FBI. He further confirmed that the FBI is investigating.
The attack was discovered less than two weeks before Election Day as both Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden made their final push to win Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes.
The stolen money would have been used in the final days of the campaign to make snap spending decisions based on the state of the race, told Hitt.
He said the hackers manipulated invoices from four vendors who were being paid to send out direct mail for Trump’s re-election efforts and to provide pro-Trump material that could be handed out to supporters.
Invoices and other documents were altered so when the party paid them, the money went to the hackers instead of the vendors, Hitt said.
The hack was discovered after someone noticed that an invoice was generated that should not have been, he said.
Hitt said it appears the attack began as a phishing attempt. It does not appear that any data was stolen, said party spokesman Alec Zimmerman.
Hitt said he was not aware of any other state GOP being targeted for a similar hack, but state parties were warned at the Republican National Convention this summer to be on the lookout for cyber attacks.
