WRDSB says phishing emails sent to students and staff

A teen types on a keyboard. (Source: cottonbro studio/Pexels)

The Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) is sharing details about a recent phishing attack.

“A number of student and staff accounts received fake job offer emails that included links to suspicious Google Forms,” a message, posted to their website Tuesday, said. “These emails did not come from WRDSB and were part of an external phishing scam intended to collect personal information.”

“Phishing” describes fraudulent emails, text messages, phone calls or websites that impersonate real businesses, agencies or organizations, meant to trick unsuspecting victims into disclosing personal details, including usernames, passwords or banking information.

The school board said they took immediate steps to stop the cyberattack, including blocking the suspicious email addresses and links, reporting the fake forms to Google and removing the messages from inboxes.

“We are continuing to monitor for any further activity and remain committed to maintaining a safe and secure digital environment for all students and staff,” they promised.

The WRDSB also shared these safety tips for families:

• Avoid clicking on links in emails that seem suspicious or too good to be true
• Delete any unexpected job offer emails
• If you or your child clicked a link or shared personal information, please contact their school
• Remind your child to check with a trusted adult before responding to unexpected messages