A ritzy Greenwich Village restaurant was forced to close its doors after a $45,000 payroll cyberscam – and now it’s co-owner is warning other businesses to be on the lookout.
Gotham Restaurant co-owner Bret Csencsitz said they made the difficult choice to shutter temporarily after he was duped into sending the money to a “nefarious actor.”
“We just couldn’t keep our payroll going, we didn’t have enough money so we’re pausing,” he told The Post in a recent interview.
The saga started for the upscale eatery on May 10, a Friday, when a thief pretending to work for a company Gotham uses to administer payroll emailed Csencsitz and his human resource staffer to tell them the firm was changing banking information because of “internal issues.”
The HR staffer contacted Csencsitz to take a look at the request. He combed through past emails and it appeared to be from the employee they typically talk with from the payroll company.
“And I then wired the money to this new account with the company name and their address,” he said. “It’s not until several hours later we realize something seems a little weird.”
The scammer had copied the email format that usually comes from the email provider, but after closer inspection – that came too late – the email address had an additional K in the URL, he said.
“We fell victim to someone who was able to inject themselves into an ongoing dialogue between ourselves and a payroll company,” Csencsitz said.
“When you look at it you wouldn’t notice it normally,” he added. “But eventually when we’re really digging down into why is this happening we found the difference.”
He contacted his bank, but so far, the financial institute hasn’t recovered the money. He’s surprised banks don’t do more to safeguard their client’s money. he said.
Gotham, which offers a New American cuisine, doesn’t have cyber insurance policy, which would have cost a hefty $5,000 annually.
He has filed a report with the FBI and is in contact with the agency.
With the loss of money and a notable drop in customers expected between June and August when people are away, Csencsitz made the “challenging” choice earlier this month to close for a few months.
He sent a message to employees informing them of the temporary closure earlier this month, according to Eater NY, which first reported the conundrum.
“Please know that this was a difficult decision and it was not made lightly. Business levels and a recent cyber-deception incident that resulted in a large loss, made it necessary for us to pause operations to consider our options,” Csencsitz told workers.
“Please know that I am deeply appreciative to every employee, and I am sorry for any distress this may cause. I do hope that all will consider rejoining Gotham at the end of the summer.”
The restaurant, which is celebrating its 40th year in business and was previously referred to as Gotham Bar and Grill, has faced uphill battles before.
It was closed for nearly two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and when it reopened, with Csencsitz as the new owner after he was the general manager, the eatery struggled to attract enough staff.
But Csencsitz is undeterred by the latest hurdle.
“We fully plan to reopen. We have capital committed, we haven’t received it yet but we will. We have very strong commitments and we’re gonna modify some things and be back with a new venue and a slightly modified dining room,” he said.
His warning to other restaurants is to take out cyber insurance and “you can’t verify enough.”
“Mistrust any change in banking information,” he advised. “I would initially be very skeptical of that and verify by multiple means.”
