$2.4 Million Scam Attempted By Hacker Posing As School Contractor

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — A hacker who attempted to steal $2.4 million from North Shore District 112 was thwarted last summer with the help of Highland Park police and the FBI, district officials said.

Superintendent Mike Lubelfeld said District 112 was targeted by one or more scammers posing as employees of a district contractor a year ago.

In July 2020, a phony contractor convinced district staff to make a large payment to a fraudulent bank account in New York, Lubelfeld said.

"It was a $400,000 transfer that was released and went to the bank of the criminal," he said. "Because of the fast action of the Highland Park police financial crimes unit and the FBI, we recovered all but $2,048 of that $400,000 theft."

The superintendent told Patch there was another $2 million construction payment set to go out when the first wire transfer was discovered.

"That didn't go out," he said. "That never made it to the criminals."

Earlier "phishing" scams that targeted the district in late 2019 were not related to the phony contractor, according to the superintendent, who said internal security measures have been strengthened following last year's breach.

Lubelfeld said he has ordered several audits of the district's cybersecurity measures since taking over in 2018, initially working with Deer Park-based Net56 and district information technology contractor Heartland Business Systems, based in Little Chute, Wisconsin.

After learning of the breach in July 2020, the district hired McLean, Virginia-based cybersecurity firm Crypsis for a forensic audit of the hack, the superintendent said. He said the firm's analysis showed no student or staff data was improperly accessed in the breach.

Last month, the district expanded its contract with Heartland Business Systems, which now manages the district's network and cybersecurity. As a result, a network manager administrator position, vacant due to attrition, has been eliminated from the budget, Lubelfeld said.

Former District 112 Chief Technology Officer John Petze departed last June after eight years at the district to become a superintendent in Whiteside County. The position was initially downgraded from a top-level administrative role but returned to Lubelfeld's cabinet earlier this month with the promotion of Jeremy Wickham from information technology coordinator to technology director.