Westerville school district warns of fake job offer email scam

WESTERVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) -- It seems there's a scam for just about everything these days, and that includes employment opportunities.

Scammers advertise fake jobs the same way honest employers do -- online, on legitimate job sites, social media platforms, and through email. The Westerville City School District sent this urgent message to staff, families and students:

URGENT!

ATTENTION WCSD STAFF, FAMILIES & STUDENTS

District officials have been made aware of an email scam targeting Gmail addresses in which the sender promotes an employment opportunity and requests personal contact information through a Google Form from anyone who would like to apply or learn more. Should a person complete the provided Google form, they receive a follow-up text message to continue the conversation and provide additional personal information. The sender will also impersonate a school official with school credentials as part of their attempt to obtain student information.

Characteristics of the solicitation email include the following:

The available "executive assistant" job would pay $300/week

The employee would work remotely for 3 hours a day, 2-3 days a week.

The minimum age for the job was 15 years old.

The sender claims the message was sent to all staff and students on the district's mailing list.

Please know that we have reported this matter to Google and ensured that our filtering system is blocking the sender's Gmail address. Even with these precautions in place, should you receive such an unsolicited employment opportunity email or request for personal information, DO NOT respond even if it looks like a legitimate request. Please report the matter to the district's Information Technology Department at  wcs_it@westerville.k12.oh.us.

The concern -- that an unsuspecting adult or young student, looking to make some quick and easy cash, will turn over their personal information to a fraudster. And once that happens, there's no going back.

As Better Call 4 has told you before, if you get a message like this, that you weren't expecting:

• Look closely for spelling or grammatical errors
• Double check sender information, like emails and phone numbers
• Take matters into your own hands. Look up the company's website, contact them directly, don't click on links sent to you, and find out if they're really hiring.

Or, as the district suggested, simply do not respond. The district said it reported the scam to Google and has blocked the sender's email address. But if you have any concerns, you can contact the district's Information Technology Department at wcs_it@westerville.k12.oh.us.