LIVONIA, Mich. (WXYZ) — A phishing email targeting Livonia Public Schools students promised $300 a week for remote, part-time work, but scammers were actually after sensitive personal and banking information.
Watch Randy Wimbley's video report:
The district confirmed Monday that a staff email account was compromised and used to send the fraudulent job offer to students. Officials say the email has since been removed from all district accounts.
Miranda Grandmason, a Livonia mother of four, spotted the suspicious email late last week when it was sent to her 12-year-old child.
"I just found it really odd that they would offer a job to a 12-year-old," Grandmason said.
She deleted it and didn't give it a second thought until she learned on Facebook Monday that it was a scam.
The email led recipients to a Google Form requesting personal and banking information under the guise of a job application.
Livonia Public Schools' I.T. department launched an investigation after learning about the cyber attack on Monday afternoon. The district says six email accounts clicked the "Apply Here" link, though it's unclear if anyone actually submitted their personal information.
"We always tell them — don't click on links in emails or texts, and don't answer strange calls — to keep them from getting pulled into a scam," Grandmason said.
Cyber risk expert David Derigiotis emphasized the importance of education in preventing these attacks.
"Kids need to be educated — even if it looks like it's coming from a trusted source, you have to stop and think: does this make sense? Should I be sharing this information?" Derigiotis said.
The district released a statement acknowledging the ongoing challenge of cybersecurity threats.
"Unfortunately, our school district, like many others, is constantly battling this type of activity. Our firewalls and other security measures deflect hundreds, if not thousands, of phishing attempts daily. We provide training, testing, and awareness to staff, and require strong passwords and multi-factor authentication," the statement read.
Livonia Public Schools says staff members receive monthly simulated phishing tests from an outside training company, but this email was not part of those security exercises.
———————————————————————
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
