Active Cat-Phishing Schemes

Dear Baldwinsville Central School District families,

I am writing to let you know of a trend that continues to be prevalent in New York State that has escalated over the past year with predators targeting teens on social media. Predators are seeking out teens on social media and working to connect with them and gain their trust. The teenagers think they are “chatting” with someone else. These predators then solicit pictures or trusted information from the teen. The predators then threaten to expose the teen’s private information and/or pictures. They demand money, more pictures and other “payoffs” from the teens. The demands come fast and furious and send the kids into sheer panic. This sheer panic can result in kids taking drastic measures to protect themselves.

We would like to share this information directly with our students and remind them that we (parents, family members, community members and school staff) are here to support them. The objective of sharing the information with the students is to make them aware of this issue, explain how to protect themselves, what to do if they make a mistake and get involved in something like this, and who they can go to for help.

We will do this through a video message. Please watch the video and consider discussing it with your child. In this video Mr. Sean McMahon, Durgee Junior High School Counselor, Mr. Jeremy Hollenbeck, Baker High School School Counselor and Ms. Tiffany Stubbmann, Ray Middle School Counselor share information with students related to social media safety in general, and alerting all students to this particularly dangerous situation. In the video students are reminded of the places they can turn if they feel as if they or a friend has been a victim. We will remind students to turn to parents, counselors at the school, trusted teachers, all of whom stand ready to help students. This video will be strictly focused on cat-phishing schemes which are active right now. The objective of informing the students is to make them aware of this issue, explain how to protect themselves, what to do if they make a mistake and get involved in something like this, and who they can go to for help.

If you believe your child has been a victim of this scheme, please notify the school or the Baldwinsville Police Department. If you are concerned that your child needs additional support, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s school counselor. Below you will find a link to the video your child will watch, community resources and directory for our support staff.

Sincerely,

Karrie LaMacchia
Director of Pupil and Personnel Services