Toledo Public School students seeing effects of massive data breach
Toledo Public School students seeing effects of massive data breach
By Shaun Hegarty
Published: Feb. 22, 2021 at 3:28 PM GMT
TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - The 13abc I-Team is seeing the first real signs of the fallout from that massive Toledo Public Schools’ data breach.
We’re now hearing from parents who say they’re being notified about accounts trying to be opened in their kids’ names.
As the 13abc I-Team first told you in October, that breach was much larger than first reported. It included academic and personal information of both students and staff members.
There is no kid at Harvard Elementary school who should have a car loan or a credit card but one parent we talked said someone is trying to open them up in his son’s name.
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When this TPS family (which did not want to reveal its last name to 13abc) got the letter in November stating their child’s personal information was part of a data breach it was surprising, to say the least.
“I figured they had firewalls and things of that nature. I’m tech-deficient but enough to protect our information,” said Bryan, the TPS parent who spoke to 13abc.
He’s now learned his son’s information is in the hands of people it shouldn’t be. Here are some of the messages he’s received about his elementary schooler:
The first one was for denial for a credit card.
Another one happened when the child was denied for a car loan because it said the reason was because of his income ratio.
One of the last ones was to have fixed electric rates.
The family got a flier talking about the student’s Toledo Edison account and the gift card he could get by switching suppliers.
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“They’ve got our children’s information and they’re trying to use it,” said Bryan.
Toledo Public Schools offered credit monitoring to all current students, current employees, and all retired staff members they had an address for according to the district. Monitoring only goes so far because remember, the bad guys already have the personal information and can use it.
Monitoring might pick it up but parents need to be vigilant about what notices or letters they get and act quickly to shut anything down.
“We all need to be looking out for our loved ones and protecting them right now because there’s something going on,” said Bryan.
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The good news is that this family is using the monitoring and so far hasn’t found any account opened in the kid’s name.
TPS says it put ads out in newspapers across Ohio letting former TPS staff who might not be in the area about the breach and the monitoring.
By Shaun Hegarty
Published: Feb. 22, 2021 at 3:28 PM GMT
TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - The 13abc I-Team is seeing the first real signs of the fallout from that massive Toledo Public Schools’ data breach.
We’re now hearing from parents who say they’re being notified about accounts trying to be opened in their kids’ names.
As the 13abc I-Team first told you in October, that breach was much larger than first reported. It included academic and personal information of both students and staff members.
There is no kid at Harvard Elementary school who should have a car loan or a credit card but one parent we talked said someone is trying to open them up in his son’s name.
ADVERTISEMENT
When this TPS family (which did not want to reveal its last name to 13abc) got the letter in November stating their child’s personal information was part of a data breach it was surprising, to say the least.
“I figured they had firewalls and things of that nature. I’m tech-deficient but enough to protect our information,” said Bryan, the TPS parent who spoke to 13abc.
He’s now learned his son’s information is in the hands of people it shouldn’t be. Here are some of the messages he’s received about his elementary schooler:
The first one was for denial for a credit card.
Another one happened when the child was denied for a car loan because it said the reason was because of his income ratio.
One of the last ones was to have fixed electric rates.
The family got a flier talking about the student’s Toledo Edison account and the gift card he could get by switching suppliers.
ADVERTISEMENT
“They’ve got our children’s information and they’re trying to use it,” said Bryan.
Toledo Public Schools offered credit monitoring to all current students, current employees, and all retired staff members they had an address for according to the district. Monitoring only goes so far because remember, the bad guys already have the personal information and can use it.
Monitoring might pick it up but parents need to be vigilant about what notices or letters they get and act quickly to shut anything down.
“We all need to be looking out for our loved ones and protecting them right now because there’s something going on,” said Bryan.
ADVERTISEMENT
The good news is that this family is using the monitoring and so far hasn’t found any account opened in the kid’s name.
TPS says it put ads out in newspapers across Ohio letting former TPS staff who might not be in the area about the breach and the monitoring.
