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Hacked platform used by Tacoma schools sends 37,000 phishing emails to families, staff

Families in Tacoma found suspicious emails in their inboxes on Monday after an email platform used by Tacoma Public Schools, was hacked.

The hack sent out 37,600 phishing emails to families, parents and other people in the community Monday afternoon.

The emails appeared to be sent by Tacoma Public Schools and included file links. One email headline read, “Pete Andrews sent you a file statement,” and other asked users to “please fill empty lines in your account statement.”

School district staff were quick to alert people through social media that the emails were fake and not to click on them.

They urged people who already clicked on them to change their passwords and report the spam emails.

Spokesperson Dan Voelpel told The News Tribune that Constant Contact is a vendor the district contracts with to send e-newsletters.

“We’ve reported it to them and they’re investigating,” Voelpel said.

This story was originally published August 3, 2020 at 3:43 PM.

Allison Needles
The News Tribune
Allison Needles covers city and education news for The News Tribune in Tacoma. She was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest.
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