The attack involved emails that appeared to be from UTEP, tricking students, and using their information to alter bank deposit information, allowing cyber criminals to divert funds into their own accounts.
Dr. Heather Wilson, President of UTEP, confirmed that while the university’s systems were not directly hacked, the phishing attack is indicative of a larger, nationwide trend of cyber crime targeting students.
“I think this is a broad nationwide attack, and there are hundreds of thousands of these things that go on every day, which is really frustrating,” Wilson said.
The impact of the attack has been significant for students like Alexis Sandoval and Ariadna Vazquez.
Sandoval relies heavily on her financial aid for essential expenses such as books, transportation and personal items.
“It’s been very hard for me to focus on this semester with this huge setback," she said. "I have not been able to get any books or focus fully on my classes, having to be in constant contact with the FBI, the Department of Education, and struggling in general to try to find a way to make up for the money lost.”
Vazquez shared her ordeal of discovering unauthorized charges to her bank deposit information, leading to the loss of her financial aid refund.
“This whole situation was very stressful because I needed that money for things like books, gas, parking, and personal expenses,” she said. “A parking sticker is around $400, and I live about 50 minutes away from campus, so I rely on that money to cover all these costs. Like many other students, I depend on financial aid.”
The school is taking steps to mitigate the impact of the attack and prevent future incidents, conducting monthly cybersecurity training sessions for students.
“Unfortunately, these criminals are getting more and more sophisticated,” Wilson said. “They’re getting better and better at pretending they’re somebody else, and they prey on students and on the elderly.”
The school is also offering an emergency fund to those in need to ease the impact of the situation.
“Some of them have had thousands of dollars stolen from their bank accounts and we’re trying to work with each one of them one-on-one to see what we can do to be helpful. They’re victims of a crime, and it’s just really awful for them.” Wilson said. “We’ll work with the FBI and try to help the victims of the crime, which in this case are our students.”
Not only has UTEP been targeted by cyber criminals, but several universities and companies in the state have been targets of these crimes.
Last summer, more than a dozen universities and companies in the state were targets of a hack that was able to access emails through Microsoft.
In October 2023, Texas Wesleyan Universityexperienced a network disruption that may have allowed unauthorized access to some individuals' personal information. The university immediately disconnected access to the network and hired a cybersecurity firm to investigate according to the school.
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