Personal information is everywhere. From the constant exposure of social media to Google’s analysis of every click, internet privacy is a thing of the past. Scammers use this information to manipulate people into giving up critical information or funds.
At Miramonte, students have often experienced phishing schemes and account hacks in the last few years, posing a potential risk to student security and privacy.
2023 research from financial advisory company Deloitte finds that Gen Z, especially, is a target for phishing schemes. The report stated that the younger generation is three times more likely to fall for online scams than boomers.
“As technology has become easier to navigate, the need for tech literacy has declined,” Miramonte Site Technician Justin Yee said. “A bell curve exists regarding vulnerability to these scams: older and younger generations are more susceptible, while middle generations, having grown up with them, are more aware of how these scams work and what they look like.”
These scams hit Miramonte and as AI and internet usage increased, so did suspicious scam texts and emails.
“The [scamming] issue really started to pick up steam about two years ago… Scams often have a sense of urgency that requires immediate attention for something extremely serious that has to be resolved,” Yee said.
Usually these phishing scam messages are job or internship opportunities, but can extend to invitations for America’s Got Talent, fake scholarships, or cheap offers on designer goods, according to a notice by San Francisco’s Office of Cybersecurity.
Sophomore Mimi Richards, received several scam messages in her school email.
“The pay was $500.00 per hour so I immediately knew it was [fake]-. Out of curiosity, I clicked on it and it was a google form asking for my social security number,” Richards said.
But even only clicking on these links can be risky. Yee warns that using links from a scam message “leave your account vulnerable due to a sophisticated set of information pulling.”
Miramonte is not immune to these kinds of account breaches. Junior Charlie Rivera-Gu, whose student account was hacked over spring break, tried to log into her account but found that her password had been changed. When she came to class, a teacher extended condolences about the passing of her uncle, which hadn’t actually happened. Later, it was revealed that many teachers had gotten an email from “Charlie” offering to sell them items left behind by the death of an uncle. Rivera-Gu said teachers were alerted by several grammar and spelling mistakes, not to mention the uncharacteristic offer itself.
“It could have been much worse… I think this is a good awareness moment for me because in the future, for finances and bank information I need to manage, you really want a secure password,” Rivera-Gu said.
“Accounts have been hacked and were quickly quarantined, cookies and old permissions purged, cleaned, and renewed,” Yee said.
Luckily, Miramonte is well equipped to deal with account breaches, as IT support was able to change Rivera-Gu’s password.
As Miramonte tries to prevent future hacks, awareness is increasingly important. San Francisco office of Cybersecurity and the school district advise young people to look for a few common signs:
Offers that look too good to be true
Requests for personal information that wouldn’t usually be necessary
Informal communications like text messages
Messages sent from personal emails or phone numbers
Jobs or Internships that ask applicants to pay upfront
Grammar or spelling mistakes
Students are also advised to research background information to check if the company contacting them really exists. Additionally, companies will usually put a warning online when their name is being used in a phishing scam. If a message looks somehow suspicious, is to forward it to Miramonte IT support or a teacher. The best course of action is to stay informed and aware of potential scams; as Yee said, “Ultimately, once you know what scams look like, they are easy to avoid.”
