Half of schools get fake invoice

In the scam, school employees receive official-looking invoices from a fake company, Scholastic School Supply, for books they did not order.

Huntington, Harper, Nyssa, Ontario, Vale, Payette and Weiser school districts all reported receiving the phony invoice.

Some districts received the fake invoice at only one school. That was the case in Nyssa, where only the elementary school received the invoice. In Vale, only the high school got the invoice.

The Payette and Ontario districts received the scam invoice at each of their schools.

Adrian, Annex, Arock, Jordan Valley, Juntura and Fruitland school districts did not report receiving any fake invoices.

None of the school districts that received the invoice fell for the trick. They were all able to identify it as a scam and avoid paying the phony bill.

Nyssa Superintendent Janine Weeks said employees worked carefully to check the invoice before they made any sort of payments.

“We did some internal investigation first to see if we had any purchase orders that matched it,” Weeks said.

Amy Anderson at Nyssa Elementary said she was familiar with what she had ordered and was able to quickly identify the bogus invoice. She also made efforts to call the numbers on the invoice to verify whether it was legitimate.

“I called, and it sounded very suspicious,” Anderson said.

Anderson said the phone number on the invoice led to a series of voicemails, all informing her that her call likely would not be returned due to the busy time of year.

Harper Charter School was told about the scam by Malheur Education Service District after school officials received the invoice.

Weiser School District had been alerted to the scam before it received the invoice. School officials caught the fake invoice immediately after it popped up in the district.

Many area schools said that because of tight budgets and smaller orders, school officials are more aware of what their schools are purchasing. That helped them quickly identify the scam.

The scam takes many measures to ensure it appears as legitimate as possible. Julie Tabste, business manager with the Ontario School District, said the invoice even included a return envelope.

The invoices are always in the same amount for $647.50, and the phone numbers on the invoice lead to voicemails like those Anderson received, warning calls may not be returned because of the busy time of year.

“One of the main concerns is that this scam has hit schools all across the country,” Dichter said. “It has hit many, many schools. We’ve received more than 51 complaints in 22 states, and the complaints continue to increase every single day.”

BBB in Nevada has seen more than 2,000 inquiries about this scam and has seen an increase of 15 complaints a day.

The Better Business Bureau said scammers often use names similar to those of actual companies. In this case, they are imitating the legitimate publishing company Scholastic, which specializes in educational materials.

The scam was first identified when smaller school districts noticed something strange about the invoices.

“Some of the smaller school districts don’t order as many books as the large districts,” Dichter said. “That was the first thing that raised red flags.”

Diechter said schools need to stay vigilant and keep an eye on the invoices it receives, especially if the amount is for $647.50.

“If you’re a school district, have a conversation with the treasurer to be on the lookout for scams,” Dichter said. “Good to always be on your toes.”

Zachary Chastaine is a news reporter at The Argus Observer. He can be reached at (541) 823-4815 or by emailing zachc@argusobserver.com. To comment on this story, go to www.argusobserver.com.