'Project Papa': Inside the email scam that compromised Nitro employees' data

A single deceptive email triggered a citywide data breach in Nitro, exposing employee tax information and prompting a multi-agency investigation called “Project Papa.”

In July, the Gazette-Mail reported that the City of Nitro had fallen victim to a data breach. Newly obtained records through the Freedom of Information Act requests now provide a clearer picture of how the incident unfolded, the city’s response and the impact on affected employees. Kanawha Valley

Unknown number of City of Nitro employees left in IRS limbo after data breach

By Sierra Marling smarling@hdmediallc.com

2 min to read

Data breach

City records show the incident began when a city accounting employee received an email on Jan. 21 that appeared to come from "Dave Casebolt" — similar to Mayor David Casebolt's n