Tamworth Regional Council removes councillor contact after email scam impersonates mayor asking for gift cards

Tamworth Regional Council had become the latest victim of widespread cyber-attacks and hacking incidents across the technology sector at the end of February.

As a result, all councillor contact email details have been temporarily removed from its website, and deputy mayor Mark Rodda said it's probably for the best.

"It wasn't to make it more difficult for residents," he said.

"We were getting emails that I honestly believed were from Russell Webb, the language was like he would speak to me.

"It said, 'I'm stuck in a meeting, can you buy six iPhone cards?'

"The alarm bells rang immediately, and apparently since the Russia-Ukraine crisis our council and Australia in general has gotten a lot of those attacks - the IT people said it was well picked up by me."

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The council put measures in place to protect its data and security, which involved removing councillor contact information from the website temporarily.

A councillor spokeswoman said all councillors were advised of the move, and the IT team also closed external and internal access to some websites that were hosted overseas.

"Council appreciates our community members place great importance on being able to contact their elected representatives," she said.

"We want to assure local residents that anyone wishing to contact councillors can continue to do so by calling our customer service team on 6767 5555, or by using the 'contact us' form available on council's website."

All councillor direct emails and mobile numbers have been removed from the TRC website as a precaution.

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