Many City employees received a phishing scam email Thursday morning from an email account claiming to be Mayor Nin Hulett. Staff quickly identified that the email was not from Mayor Hulett and warned other staff members.

The email requested the employees assist in the purchase of “gift cards” or “staff appreciation gifts.” Staff did not comply with the bogus request.

“As Mayor of Granbury, I work through our City Manager, Chris Coffman, to communicate to staff. I would never send this kind of request to staff members,” said Mayor Hulett.

Official emails from Mayor Hulett will come from the address nhulett@granbury.org.

A phishing email scam is a scam that is an attempt to trick the victim into giving up personal information or funds. For more information about phishing scams and how to recognize and avoid them, visit www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams. This scam email was reported using the instructions from the Federal Trade Commission.

City staff work to stay vigilant against any cyber threats. The City contracts with McLane Intelligent Solutions for information technology services, and they provide state of the art protection and data back-up solutions that provide the best protection possible. Additionally, Texas House Bill 3834, which became effective on June 14, 2019, mandates cybersecurity training for all city officials and employees. The bill allows the Texas Department of Information Resources, which is responsible for implementation, to identify and certify training programs that are already provided by local governments. Cities are beginning to implement this training now.