Tri-County Career Center Recovers Nearly $479,000 through Insurance, Deductible Repayment following Phishing Scam

COLUMBUS – The Tri-County Career Center in Athens County has recovered nearly $479,000 it lost after it failed to follow standards and guidance issued by the Auditor of State’s Office and fell victim to an email phishing scheme.

The school’s insurance carrier covered $473,752 of the loss, and former Treasurer Rodney Schilling paid the remaining $5,000 deductible under an audit released Thursday covering financial activities from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.

“Public officials changing bank account information without fully verifying such requests are easy targets for scammers,” Auditor of State Keith Faber said. “Cybercrooks aren’t letting up, and anyone responsible for handling public funds needs to remain extra vigilant.”

The full report is available online at https://ohioauditor.gov/auditsearch/search.aspx.

Dozens of government offices have been targeted by payment re-direct attacks in recent years, causing millions of dollars of losses of public funds. The Auditor of State’s Office warned local governments of the scams in an advisory in March 2023, then issued a formal bulletin in April 2024 that included tips for identifying the schemes and recommendations for preventing the transfer of public funds to cyber crooks.

Public offices also are now required to complete training and adopt cybersecurity programs as part of efforts to counter phishing and other scams (https://ohioauditor.gov/fraud/cybersecurity.html).

In March 2025, a phony vendor pretending to be a construction company doing business with the school contacted the Tri-County Career Center and asked that bank deposit information be changed.

The treasurer’s office made the change, resulting in $478,752 being routed to the phony vendor and not the legitimate construction company.

Auditors noted, “Treasurer Schilling failed to take steps to independently verify the change in the company’s banking information… (N)one of the (Auditor of State’s) bulletin’s recommended steps were taken to independently verify the request was legitimate.”

The audit report released Thursday included a finding for recovery against Schilling of $5,000, the deductible portion of the loss that was not covered by the school’s insurance carrier. Schilling submitted payment on the finding in April 2026.

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The Auditor of State’s Office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio, is responsible for auditing more than 5,900 state and local government agencies. Under the direction of Auditor Keith Faber, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies, and promotes transparency in government.