Tribal Web site is compromised

In the March 24 issue of the Comet, a front-page story appeared about the Eel River Indian Tribe and their struggle to become recognized by the federal government. The tribe's Web site address was given at the end of the story.

The day after the story appeared, the tribal Web site was hacked into and a tribal member's personal financial information was posted. The financial information was used to infiltrate the tribe's Ebay account. The perpetrator proceeded to begin selling Ipods.

The tribe's E-bay account was ruined and tribal chief Mike Floyd spent many hours working with the Internet service provider to restore and secure the tribe's Web site.

Floyd and the tribe member whose financial information was compromised notified local and federal authorities to report the crime. The matter is under investigation.

"The victims in this acted appropriately," Carroll County Sheriff Tony Burns said. "When something like this happens to you, it's hard to remember what to do."

"We can't help anybody unless we know about it," he continued." The public is our eyes and ears. We rely on them to make us aware of what's going on."