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Democrats

The DNC Lost Nearly $29,000 to an Email Scammer Posing as Ken Martin

The Democratic National Committee caught the error, but only recovered a portion of the funds, an official said.

Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin speaks during an interview.

An email scammer received payment from a Democratic National Committee staffer after pretending to be Chair Ken Martin. Allison Robbert/AP

By Dave Levinthal

July 28, 2026 04:26 p.m.

A thief scammed the cash-strapped Democratic National Committee out of nearly $29,000 last year, according to interviews with committee officials and previously unreported federal records.

In February 2025, an unknown party sent a fraudulent email to a committee staffer pretending to be Chairman Ken Martin, a DNC official familiar with the matter confirmed to NOTUS. Martin had begun his tenure days before. The staffer, who is no longer at the DNC, made a payment to the fraudster.

The DNC official said the committee caught the error within minutes and reported it to its financial institution — Wells Fargo, according to federal records — but could only recover $7,000 of the lost money.