Back-to-School Scams and Cyberthreats That School Staff Shouldn’t Ignore

While students and parents are busy stocking up on supplies, teachers and school admin staff face their own unique risks during back-to-school season.

Scammers know educators juggle heavy workloads, often pay for supplies themselves, and rely on email for daily communication. This makes them prime targets for cybercriminals.

Here’s what teachers and admin staff need to watch out for.

 Phishing Emails Disguised as School Administrators

“Please update your password for the staff portal.”
“Urgent: payroll verification needed.”

These messages appear to come from principals or district IT, but in reality, they’re designed to steal login credentials. The messages are designed to look urgent and official. To keep your data and accounts safe, hover over links before clicking, and confirm suspicious requests independently by phone.

If you’ve fallen victim, contact the school department immediately, change your passwords, and run a full scan using a security solution from Bitdefender.

Related: Phishing Scams: How to Identify and Avoid Them

 Payroll and Tax Scams

In these scams, fraudsters may send fake HR emails asking teachers and other staff to “update” their banking info and confirm sensitive details like Social Security Numbers. Targets only realize something’s wrong when their paycheck never arrives.

To stay safe, always confirm payroll changes directly with HR and never via email links. Before clicking on any link or payment request, staff should quickly run it through Bitdefender Link Checker. This simple step can block a significant financial loss.

Supply and Classroom Material Scams

Many teachers are paying for supplies out of their own pocket, making them targets for scams advertising special educator discounts and other bulk deals.

Be mindful of school supply sales and giveaways on social media platforms too. While some may be real, many scams circulate through Facebook ads or fake groups.

To reduce your risks of falling for these scams, stick to verified vendors for purchasing your school supplies. Verify offers using Bitdefender Scamio, our free AI-powered scam detector that provides a quick assessment of links and offers.

Tech Support Scams

Whether it’s a hardware problem or you’re locked out of school portals, educators contact IT staff to help troubleshoot classroom computers or portals. In tech scams, attackers pose as IT staff, asking teachers to install remote access software or share credentials.

Never allow remote access unless you initiated the request with official IT staff.

Related articles:

• Remote Access Scam Prevention – Your Trusted Anti-Scam AI Companion
• 3 Tech Support Scam Tactics Targeting Small Businesses and How to Counter Them

How Teachers Can Stay Safe in and beyond the Classroom

As a teacher, your energy should be focused on nurturing a great school year and helping students unlock their potential, not dodging scams and other internet threats.

This is why we make cybersecurity easy and accessible for everyone. From free and budget-friendly solutions to all-in-one security suites that keep your devices and identity safe.

Here’s our top cyber safety tips that can make all the difference in this new school year

• Slow down if you’re feeling rushed to act quickly.  Scammers often succeed in their quest to deceive users because they create a false sense of panic, urging you to act immediately.
• Don’t click on links when it comes to money. Go straight to the source independently, especially when you get a message about payroll changes, grant opportunities, or supply reimbursements. Confirm the request with your school’s HR or administration office through trusted channels.
• Keep your devices and software up to date and install security solutions on both your PC and phone. Keeping software and antivirus protection updated ensures that, even if you do encounter a malicious file, it won’t compromise your classroom or personal data. For those on tight budgets, Bitdefender Free Antivirus offers reliable, no-cost protection against malware and phishing attempts.
• Use unique and complex passwords for school portals and databases, and never use the same password across multiple platforms, including personal social media accounts and streaming platforms.  If creating secure logins seems too complicated, you can use Bitdefender Password Generator to create strong, uncrackable combinations instantly. Enable two-factor or multi-factor authentication wherever available for an extra layer of protection.
• Stop guessing whether a message is legitimate or not. With Bitdefender Scamio, you can quickly check the legitimacy of emails, links, and texts before engaging with them.
• Last but not least, don’t store sensitive student information on your personal devices or unsecured drives. Keep this data within your school’s official systems, and back up lesson plans or classroom resources using secure, approved methods only.