1. “Your Principal Needs Gift Cards” (The $3,000 Text Trap)
- The scam:Criminals pose as principals, heads of school, superintendents, or office managers, pressuring staff to buy gift cards for “students,” “parents,” or “teacher appreciation.”
- Prevention:Policy: No gift-card purchases without two approvals. Train staff that school leadership will never request them via text message.
2. Invoice & Payment Switch-Ups (The Big Money Play)
- The scam:Scammers send “updated banking details” pretending to be approved vendors (technology, food service, maintenance, transportation, etc.), often by replying inside real e-mail threads.
- Example:In 2024, a town in Massachusetts lost nearly half a million dollars this way.
- Prevention:Phone-verify all banking changes using numbers already on file. Adopt a “phone call rule” for all payments over a set amount (ex: $5,000).
3. Fake Shipping & Delivery Notices
- The scam:Phishing messages pretend to be UPS, FedEx, or USPS, especially during the influx of holiday packages for classrooms and offices.
- Prevention:Staff should type carriers’ sites directly into the browser. Bookmark official tracking pages.
4. Malicious “Holiday Event” Attachments
- The scam:E-mails with attachments labeled things like “Holiday_Schedule.pdf” or “Teacher_Party_List.xls” install malware when opened.
- Prevention:Block macros, scan all attachments, and normalize double-checking unexpected files.
5. Bogus Holiday Fundraisers
- The scam:Fake charity pages and impersonations of PTO/PTA, student clubs, or church partners designed to steal information or donations.
- Prevention:Share an approved giving list and require donations through official channels.
Why These Attacks Work in Schools (And How To Stop Them)
Criminals target schools because:
- staff trust internal communication
- schools process large payments (technology, maintenance, curriculum materials, etc.)
- the holiday season stretches everyone thin
These aren’t obvious spam attempts they’re well-researched, well-timed social-engineering attacks.
Schools that run phishing simulations reduce cyber risk by up to 60%, yet many don’t train faculty and staff consistently.
Multifactor authentication (MFA) blocks 99% of unauthorized logins, but many schools still rely only on passwords.
Your Holiday Cyber-Safety Checklist (School Edition)
Before winter break hits:
The Two-Person Rule: Require verbal confirmation (via a separate channel) for any payment or financial change above your threshold.
Gift Card Policy: Put in writing: no gift cards requested by e-mail or text.
Vendor Verification: Confirm all banking or payment changes using known phone numbers.
Multifactor Authentication: Enforce MFA on e-mail, SIS, MDM, HR/payroll, and cloud accounts.
School-Wide Awareness: Brief faculty and staff on these five scams, with real examples.
The Real Cost: More Than Money
While the $60 million loss made global news, smaller incidents often hurt schools most:
- Hours of downtime during the busiest part of the semester
• Loss of instructional time during systems cleanup
• Erosion of parent trust if communications or student data are compromised
• Higher insurance premiums after a cyber incident
• Budget setbacks right before critical purchasing cycles
The average school-targeted e-mail scam costs $129,000—more than enough to disrupt staffing, curriculum plans, or technology upgrades.
Keep Your School’s Holidays Merry, Not Messy
The holidays should be about celebrating students, not scrambling to clean up fraud.
A short staff huddle, a few updated policies, and simple verification steps can prevent a disaster.
Remember:
The staff member in the $60 million case could have stopped everything with one quick phone call.
Your school can avoid being the next cautionary tale with the right awareness.
Want a Quick Safety Check Before Winter Break?
Book a 15-minute School Cyber Safety Review with our team. We’ll walk your administrators through fast, practical steps to protect your staff, students, and budget.
Schedule Your Free Security Assessment
Because the best gift you can give your school this holiday season is peace of mind.
