Valley school district warns parents of text message phishing scam

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Paradise Valley Unified School District is warning parents a phishing scam after some parents received a text message claiming their student’s school meal account had an overdue balance.

A parent reported the message to district leadership.

“Obviously it was not from PVSchools, but that’s just something that we want to bring awareness to,” said Sarah Hackett, a spokesperson for the district. “Fortunately, it did not target our district internet and our services here.”

Schools frequently targeted

According to research from Keeper Security, 41% of institutions say they’ve been targeted by AI-generated phishing attempts or misinformation campaigns. one in five students and parents say they reuse the same passwords for personal and school accounts, the company said.

“The reason school systems get targeted so frequently is because they hold a lot of sensitive personal information,” said Anne Cutler with Keeper Security.

“You think it, all those forms that you have to fill out for your kids at the beginning of the school year, all of that information is being stored by schools, and they don’t often have the budgets, and the cyber security tools, and the staff that they need to adequately protect that information,” Cutler said.

How to protect yourself

Cutler said there are ways to protect yourself and your network.

“Any time you get an email, think whether it was expected. Is it from the normal line of communication? If your school normally emails you and you get a text message, that in and of itself is a red flag,” Cutler said.

Cutler said a sense of urgency is another red flag. For emails, she recommends hovering over links to see where they actually go before clicking on them.

“Reach out on an alternate form of communication. So if they text you, pick up your phone, call your school, say, ‘Hey did you guys send this out?’ Just confirm that it’s authentic,” Cutler said.

Hackett said there is a tell-tale sign the message the school lunch account is fake.

“The one word ’school’ is misspelled in there,” Hackett said.

Other recommended steps include keeping devices updated with the latest operating systems and using long, strong passwords. Anyone who has clicked on a phishing email should immediately change passwords on all accounts and scan devices for malware, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

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