A check sold on the dark web has forced Carbon County to close its general fund checking account.

On Thursday, the county commissioners ratified the opening of a new general fund checking account, effective July 23.

County Treasurer Kevin Zelienka said that Mauch Chunk Trust Company reached out to the county after its monitoring program found one of its checks on the dark web.

“Once they find that our account is up there, we’re notified,” he said.

The county and bank then put an immediate freeze on that account and made a list of all outstanding checks. That list was then given to the bank so that they could still be approved when cashed.

“We opened up a new checking account immediately,” Zelienka said.

The check in question was for the amount $1,426.46.

Zelienka said that the county did not lose any money in the transaction; however, the bank that cashed the falsified check is responsible for that amount.

This is the second time in recent years that Carbon County had to close a checking account as a result of its information getting out to the public.

In 2021, a former commissioner posted a picture of a county-issued check with financial information — including routing number, checking account number and signatures — that wasn’t redacted to the county’s Facebook page.

As a result, that account was closed in 2022 and a new account was opened.