Scam emails circulating inside Plymouth-Canton Community Schools look like they're coming from people recipients actually know, the district's Technology Department warned Wednesday, Sept. 23.
At least some of the fraudulent messages were sent from compromised P-CCS accounts, the department said in a notice posted to the district website. That means a message from a familiar name and a real @pccsk12.com address may not have been written by that person.
The district, which serves families in Plymouth, Plymouth Township and Canton Township, described two main types of scam messages. One claims a family member or contact is selling vehicles and household items. The other asks the recipient to review a document and enter login credentials on a linked webpage.
What to watch for
The Technology Department flagged several warning signs:
- Requests to move the conversation to a personal email or another platform, bypassing district security monitoring
- Urgency or emotional pressure, such as claims about a family emergency or financial hardship
- Requests for payment by wire transfer, gift card or peer-to-peer app
- Unexpected links or attachments, even from someone the recipient knows
What to do
The district told recipients who get a suspicious message to report it through the P-CCS Student Help Desk, then delete it. The department stressed that recipients should not reply to the message or forward it to others, even as a warning.
Anyone who clicked a link or entered account credentials should change their password immediately and contact P-CCS Technology support, the department said. The help desk page lists school-by-school tech contacts for Canton, Plymouth, Salem, Starkweather, West, Discovery, East, Liberty and Pioneer schools.
Recipients who already sent money should contact their bank or payment provider to ask whether the transaction can be stopped, the district said. They may also wish to report the incident to law enforcement.
Anyone who shared personal information such as an address, date of birth or financial details should consider placing a fraud alert with the credit bureaus and monitoring accounts for suspicious activity, according to the notice.
The district did not disclose a scope. It has not said how many accounts were compromised, how many fraudulent messages were sent, or whether any recipients lost money.
