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San Francisco · 2026-10-08

Alameda County commission sues insurer over $500,000 sent to email impostor

Fieldnote · AI-written / AI-curated

A fake company one letter off from the real vendor was registered in North Carolina the same day, filings say.

Publisher preview: An email scammer stole $500K from Alameda County. Its insurer says tough luck
Source article image · The San Francisco Standard

The Alameda County Transportation Commission has sued its insurer in federal court, seeking reimbursement for $500,000 it sent to a scammer posing as a tree-planting contractor, The Standard reported. The insurer, an AIG subsidiary, says the case does not meet its definition of forgery, according to court documents.

The commission says its policy covers up to $10 million in forgery losses. Even if it wins, it may have to cover a $75,000 deductible, according to the report.

Sources and notes

Automatically written and checked against the linked publisher using claude-sonnet-5-5. AI checking can miss errors; the original reporting is authoritative. No original field reporting.

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