MacEwan University said its IT systems are secure after the institution was defrauded Attack.Phishing of nearly $ 12 million in a phishing scam Attack.Phishing compounded by human error . The university learned it was the victim of an attack Attack.Phishing last Wednesday , Aug 23 after a series of fraudulent emails “ convinced university staff to change electronic banking information for one of the university ’ s major vendors. ” On Friday , Clark Builders — an Edmonton construction and contracting company — confirmed it was the vendor fraudsters posed as in the online attack . The fraud Attack.Phishing led university staff members to transfer $ 11.8 million to a bank account they believed belonged to the vendor , the university said . MacEwan University spokesperson David Beharry said three relatively low-level staff members were involved in the transfer . He said there was no process in place which required staff members to phone the vendor to confirm the request to change banking information , but that will change . “ We are looking at the levels of staffing it must go through for authorization before somebody changes that , ” he said . “ There is going to be a secondary and tertiary level of approval before this goes on . ”