Ozarks Technical Community College Says It Was a Victim of Cyber Fraud

Ozarks Technical Community College leaders announced Friday the college was the victim of a cyber fraud incident that robbed the institution of nearly $900,000 this spring.

A’ news release from OTC says the college notified law enforcement authorities as soon as the fraud was discovered.

Leaders say loss of the funds will not affect students, classes or any college operations, and the college never lost control of its data and no personal information was lost.

Chancellor Hal Higdon says OTC is conducting a thorough review of the incident and is continuing to cooperate with law enforcement.

Higdon says the college can’t provide all of the specifics at this time. “It appears the criminals succeeded in impersonating one of our vendors online and directed payments from the college into a fraudulent account,” Higdon said.

OTC says because the investigation is ongoing, law enforcement agencies have requested the college not disclose any details, including which agencies are involved.

“We will provide a more complete accounting of the incident as soon as we are able,” Higdon said. “Although the blame for this incident rests squarely on the criminals who committed this act, I want to assure you that we are doing everything in our power to ensure something like this cannot happen again.”

Higdon says he hopes the criminals are brought to justice and that the college is able to recover the funds.