A Massachusetts town trying to move ahead with a local solar project instead got an expensive reminder of how easily scammers can exploit public trust.
In Ashfield, officials said fraudsters diverted a $47,198 payment meant for Solect Energy by slipping into an active email exchange and rerouting the money.
Here's what to know
According to the Daily Hampshire Gazette, the problem surfaced when Solect Energy told the town it had not been paid for work related to the Highway Garage rooftop solar project.
A notice on the town website said the fake messages came from solects.com rather than Solect's real solect.com domain, a subtle change that made the emails look legitimate.
Town Administrator Paul McLatchy III told the paper why the fraud was difficult to spot.
"The big thing here is that the email from the fraudster, it was mid-email chain," he said. "We had already been maintaining legitimate correspondence with this company, and then, mid-stream, this person inserted themselves in using an identical signature, [a] nearly identical domain name, so it didn't raise any questions."
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Officials believe the payment was sent in June. Ashfield had signed a letter of intent in March 2025 and received an $870,000 grant in November 2025, the Gazette reported, covering 90% of the cost for a ground-mounted array at the Wastewater Treatment Plant and a roof-mounted array at the Highway Garage.
Selectboard chair Todd Olanyk said the board is approaching the situation as a serious financial loss.
"It appears that someone fraudulently intercepted a payment that we made to our solar partner, Solect," Olanyk told the publication. "It'd be most prudent for the board to look at this as money lost."
More background
The transfer went into a scam account, and the money was removed. Energy Committee member Mary Quigley said the town received the fake invoice about two hours after the real one, and that the fraudulent follow-up told Ashfield to pay by ACH transfer instead of by check, per the Gazette.
Town Treasurer Julie Wonkka said ACH transfers are not a common payment method for the town, although the Selectboard said they are still familiar enough in some circumstances that the request did not immediately stand out.
Wonkka added that TruNorth Bank told the town the scammers set up a domain and a bank account, took in the payment, emptied the account, and closed it within about two weeks.
Ashfield police chief Beth Bezio said the department opened an investigation and contacted the FBI. She said initial conversations indicated the transaction could not be halted because too much time had passed, according to the Gazette.
What's being done?
McLatchy said the town has filed an insurance claim and may be reimbursed through cybercrime coverage, the paper said.
Bezio said this kind of scam can compromise an organization without anyone acting carelessly.
"We were compromised, [or] someone was compromised, and it's really not a fault of a person," she argued to the Gazette.
In the notice, Ashfield said it will maintain "full transparency" as the investigation continues.
Where can I learn more?
Utility and solar scams often exploit urgency, trust, and familiar billing routines.
• In California, PG&E customers faced barcode payment scams after threatening shutoff calls.
• In Florida, utility customers received AI-powered scam calls promising fake $4,000 rebates.
• Across the U.S., homeowners have lost thousands to solar scams by trusting bad actors.
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