Vernon Superintendent: Fake Texts To Staff Were Like Bad Telemarketers

VERNON, CT — Vernon Superintendent of Schools Joseph Macary likened a series of fake text messages "from him" to several staff members this week to a bad telemarketing experience.

The phones of a few staff members began buzzing Tuesday afternoon with messages That appeared to be sent by Macary.

The messages read:

Hi (staff member)

Text me back as soon as you get this message.

Dr. Joseph P. Macary

Vernon Public School District

Two things set up red flags — Macary has never been that vague and never uses that signature in his messages.

"It was definitely not from me and that is definitely not my number," Macary told Patch.

School system officials then sent a message to staffers:

We have been notified that fraudulent text messages are being sent, impersonating Dr. Macary, using phone number 475-459-5052. Please disregard these messages as they are not coming from him. Our IT Dept. has been made aware of the situation.

Macary said he contacted the school system's IT department and the 475-459-5052 number was determined to be listed on White Pages as potential spam. IT staff submitted a fraud report related to the number.

"I don't know what to call it ... a spoof? It could be an AI thing because we have names of staff members in a public directory and is accessible," Macary said.

He said the string of calls resembled a bad telemarketing experience.

"And there isn't much we can do about it except report it," Macary said.

The school's IT department did forward the messages to federal authorities.

Nothing of value was compromised within the school system, Macary said.