The email account for Baker City public works director Joyce Bornstedt was hacked on Friday, Aug. 18, and dozens of malicious emails were sent in a matter of minutes.

“We were spoofed,” interim city manager Jon France said.

Spoofing has a few definitions in hack circles, but effectively the hacker used Bornstedt’s email address to send emails purporting to be from her account.

France said the city shut down the account when they realized what had happened Aug. 18.

The emails included a Dropbox link masquerading as a signed PDF document.

“It’s concerning,” France said. “We had a lot of IT specialists calling me and wondering what was going on.”

He said city officials have been checking computers and servers in City Hall, but it appears the attack was limited to the one email account rather than a breach of any city servers.

He recommends people who received an email purportedly from Bornstedt’s account on Aug. 18 to be cautious about any unusual activity on their devices.