MIYFS Foundation recovers about $143K from fraud incident

Published 2:30 pm Tuesday, March 24, 2026

After falling victim to a cyber fraud incident earlier this year, the Mercer Island Youth and Family Services (YFS) Foundation has recovered most of the initially diverted $145,000 scheduled quarterly grant payment to the city of Mercer Island.

An email to the foundation’s donor base and a message posted on its website on March 23 notes that it had recouped $142,984.74 of the funds as of March 9.

First came a breach in the foundation’s email system in early December of 2025, then the foundation learned of the cyber fraud attack on Jan. 29 and immediately opened a case with the Mercer Island Police Department (MIPD). The case included the involvement of detectives and a cybersecurity company.

“We started doing just all the remediation that we needed to do to be sure that everything was safe with our accounts and start the investigation process,” said Amy French, the foundation’s executive director.

French said the incident was upsetting and it was a great relief to retrieve the majority of the funds and send them the city’s way. The foundation shared the information with the community when police gave the YFS fundraising organization the go-ahead. The out-of-state case remains under investigation.

“We also realized that we just wanted to be sure that we were very transparent with the community because these types of things are happening everywhere, and very regularly. They’re targeting smaller organizations like ours, as well as bigger (ones),” said French, adding that this is the first time the foundation has dealt with a cyber fraud incident. “At some point, we’re open to potentially being a case study for other small organizations that have gone through this to try to help other organizations.”

After connecting with its cybersecurity company, the foundation is putting a lot more security elements and protocols into place. Strengthening the foundation’s safeguards includes additional verification and approval procedures around payments and payment-related changes.

Foundation Board President Cindy Goetzmann explained in the email and message that there currently is no evidence that supporter information was compromised, the foundation’s financial systems are secure, and this incident has not affected foundation-supported YFS programs and services.

French said that community donors have provided supportive and positive feedback in the wake of the incident.

“I think everyone hates to see this happen to a long-term, beloved organization that’s doing good things, raising money for human services on the Island. So I think it’s been very sweet and heartwarming to see how the community has been supportive,” she said.

Foundation Board Treasurer Frank Schott is appreciative that the foundation staff and the MIPD moved quickly to address the situation and get the funds where they belong. The foundation’s agreement with the city is that it’s committed to placing $580,000 each year in the YFS realm. The $145,000 is a quarterly payment.

“We are really glad that the money came back, of course. And the fact that none of our other systems were touched, not the donor system, not our financial system, not our accounting system — that’s comforting,” he said.

As for the remaining $2K, French said the foundation has some reserves to “cover unexpected expenses and ensure that we can always cover our commitment to the city.”

For more information, visit: https://miyfs.org/