In such scams, fraudsters pretending to be reputable people send emails to elicit personal information they can then use to their advantage.
“Unfortunately, this kind of thing has become all too common,” Manseau said in a phone interview.
“My understanding is that because of AI, people are able to send email messages that look very real. It was sent to one of our employees and it looked like it was sent by one of our employees, so, therefore, the information that was requested was sent.”
The information that was provided was contained in a spread sheet.
Manseau said that once the problem came to light recently, the district sent letters alerting vendors and offering a 12-month subscription to a company that provides identity theft protection and fraud detection.
The personal information was released Nov. 5 and the letters were sent out last week after another district employee identified the problem.
Manseau said there have been no reports yet of fraudulent use of the private information.
She declined to identify the person who released the data.
Manseau said district employees have received training about email fraud in the past and will now receive further training.
“We feel really awful about the situation and we feel for these vendors who have had their information released,” Manseau said. “Fortunately we were able to catch it and are going to be very proactive about preventing this from happening in the future.”
Gary Arceci of Jaffrey, a high school baseball umpire, was one of the vendors who received a letter from the school district, which covers Acworth, Alstead, Charlestown, Langdon and Walpole.
“We take the protection and proper use of your information very seriously, and are taking steps to prevent a similar occurrence,” the letter, dated March 3, stated. “Fall Mountain has made immediate enhancements to our systems, security and practices.
“Additionally, we have engaged appropriate experts to assist us in conducting a full review of our security practices and systems to ensure that enhanced security protocols are in place going forward. We are committed to helping those people who may have been impacted by this unfortunate situation.”
Arceci, a retired administrator for the N.H. Department of Corrections, said he has seen no evidence of fraudulent use of his private information.
He said it is disturbing to have one’s private information released.
“But it’s not the first time,” he said. “I had it several years ago at my place of employment.”
Arceci said he hopes greater awareness of the problem of phishing can reduce its prevalence.
“That’s what I’m hoping for.”
The FBI said in its annual Internet Crime Report last year that it received 880,418 complaints of cyber crimes in 2023 with potential losses exceeding $12.5 billion, with phishing schemes the most-reported crime.
In 2021, Peterborough lost $2.3 million through a phishing scam. Also, last November and early last month customers of Savings Bank of Walpole got fraudulent text messages aimed at tricking them into revealing user names and passwords.
©2025 The Keene Sentinel (Keene, N.H.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
