Name: Why local governments paid criminals more than $4 million
Uploaded: 2025-11-21T03:47:54.733Z
Duration: 4 min 36 s
Description: A cyber crime wave targeting government agencies has resulted in Northeast Ohio cities, counties, schools and more paying fraudsters more than $4 million since 2023.

A cyber crime wave targeting government agencies has resulted in Northeast Ohio cities, counties, schools and more paying fraudsters more than $4 million since 2023.

Geauga County

Northeast Ohio government agencies, including cities, counties, and school districts, have collectively lost over $4.3 million to cyber criminals since 2023 through payment redirect fraud. In these schemes, fraudsters impersonate vendors and trick agencies into sending legitimate payments to fraudulent accounts. 

State Auditor Keith Faber reports that such incidents are rising at a double-digit rate annually, prompting his office to issue alerts for stricter verification of payment changes. While some agencies have recovered losses through cybersecurity insurance, rising premiums and the risk of unrecovered funds ultimately impact taxpayers. Faber's office now plans to hold fiscal officers personally responsible for losses if proper precautions are not taken.

Why local governments paid criminals more than $4 million

It is the crime spree you may not have heard of. Thieves targeting Northeast Ohio government agencies, stealing more than a million dollars along the way. Here's five investigators Scott Noel dug into state numbers and has more now on what he's uncovered. Picturesque West Geauga County may be the last place you'd expect to find cyber criminals at work. But inside the West Geauga Board of Education office. It's the world that we live in today. Treasurer Karen Pavlett knows better. Our businesses are run on the internet. And we have access to that. And just like the fraudsters do as well. Last fall, the school district joined a growing list of government agencies falling victim to payment redirect fraud. Where thieves trick victims into sending real payments, not to the rightful recipient, but to criminals instead. They call it a criminal enterprise for a reason. Corey Scott is a cybersecurity expert at Cleveland State and a former security executive at Google and LinkedIn. It sounds pretty basic. It is. But it's effective. It is quite effective. Scott says most Ohio cases involve vendor impersonation. That's where thieves pose as companies doing business with the government, often emailing agencies, asking them to update payment information, switching them to accounts the criminals control. By the time anyone realizes what's happened, the money's already gone. You know, as a famous criminal once said, I rob banks because that's where the money is. The idea is that you go for these larger attempts of scores against major vendor contracts. Right now, governments look like those banks. Yeah. So how much are we talking about? According to state records, cities, counties, school districts, and other public agencies in Northeast Ohio paid cyber criminals more than $4.3 million since 2023. That includes nearly $974,000 from the city of Parma Heights, $748,000 from the city of Mansfield, almost $620,000 from Orange City Schools, $269,000 from the village of Greenwich in Huron County, and more than $466,000 from Lake County, just reported in September. West Geauga Schools sent two payments totaling $27,500. It's not a comfortable feeling. Let's put it that way. We found six of the 15 cases from our area were reported this year. Literally, electronic cyber fraud, we have almost every week, if not every day. Public entities that lose money and redirect fraud have to report it to state auditor Keith Faber's office. And is it growing? It is growing. By double digits last year, he says. It's why his office issued alerts to governments statewide, warning them to verify any request to change payment information before sending money. The problem is, without taking that inconvenience, you're subjecting the city or the county or the township or the governmental entity to a huge potential loss. Taxpayers. Bob and Buddy Buckeye. In Geauga County, Pavlett says the district had policies in place to protect against this kind of theft. In that case, it was a human error that didn't make that call. She says the schools recovered the stolen money through its cybersecurity insurance policy. So did a number of other agencies we talked with. But Scott warns that, too, comes with a price. For most carriers and underwriters of cyber insurance policies, they rate municipalities as one of the most riskiest entities to insure because of these types of losses. And when those premiums go up, that comes directly out of the taxpayer's pocket. It's why Faber says it's important we realize this isn't a victimless crime. The fact is, is we're all government. When you steal, our people take advantage of government. They're taking advantage of taxpayers. Because of that, Faber says his office plans to hold fiscal officers who don't take proper precautions personally responsible for the losses, meaning they'll be the ones, not taxpayers, forced to repay the money lost to cyber thieves. Scott Knoll, thank you so much for that report tonight. Speaking of fraud, we have learned the University of Akron reported to campus police that the identities of about 20 former students may have been stolen. According to a preliminary police report, this came to light after the university found out about fraudulent student account activity, totaling about $60,000.

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