MacEwan University has fallen victim to an online fraud scam that led the Edmonton-based university to transfer millions of dollars to a fraudster.
In a news release, officials said staff realized the university had been targeted late last month. The university received a number of fraudulent emails, which convinced staff to change electronic banking information for one of the university’s major vendors.
The statement said $11.8 million was transferred to a fraudulent bank account as a result.
A spokesperson said the university’s system was not compromised, and personal and financial information and transactions made within the university are secure.
“We also want to emphasize that we are working to ensure that this incident will not impact our academic or business operations in any way,” spokesperson David Beharry said in a statement.
“What happened was, a domain site with the authentic logo and everything was sent,” Beharry said. “The individual asked us to change the banking information from the vendor. That information was changed. We found out about the fraudulent transactions when the vendor contacted us to inquire about why they hadn’t received their payments.”
Read more at CTV News Edmonton
