​As a non-profit association, PTA can be vulnerable to cybercrimes. As a PTA leader, you are a person most likely to receive these types of emails. 

Scam Emails and Spoofing
The senders email may appear to come from another officer in your PTA such as the President or Treasurer, your bank or one of your vendors to help make the request look legitimate, but the email address is spoofed. There are things you can check for:

• Confirm the actual "from" address of the sender - don't rely only on the name that is shown.
• Does this email look and sound like other emails you have received from this person or institution?
• Does this email ask you to do something that is not in alignment with current financial or money handling policies?
• Often these emails will state the sender is unavailable in a meeting, or out of town, and sending money is an urgent matter. 
• Text or call the sender using an already established contact to verify the authenticity of the request. Do not call the number provided in the email. 

​Common Scams

• Asking for gift cards. Remember gift cards are the equivalent of cash and if the email is acted upon, there is likely no recourse to get the money back.
• Requesting a wire transfer usually through peer to peer (P2P) digital money transfer services such as PayPal, Zelle, Venmo, CashApp, ApplePay, etc. Wire transfers and P2P digital services are not recommended for PTAs. Instead you should have a clear funds disbursement procedure that is well documented for your records.​
• The email message may direct you to a spoofed website or otherwise get you to divulge private information such as bank account information or account passwords. The perpetrators then use this private information to commit identity theft or trick you to send money usually through peer to peer digital money transfer services. 
  • Note that the scammers are getting more convincing especially since the introduction of AI bots (Artificial Intelligence). In the past these emails could easily be spotted with the large number of spelling errors and poor grammar. Now scammers are relying on AI to get the wording (and the spelling) spot on! 
    
    

Protecting Your PTA
There are a few things you and your board should be doing in order to protect your PTA:

• If you get an email from a fellow PTA officer asking to transfer funds, do not send money. Verify the authenticity of the request by phoning the officer using a phone number already established in your contacts.
• Establish clear lines of communication between board members.
• Do not let anyone rush you into making a decision because it needs to be done now. Scammers will use the sense of urgency to get you to bypass best practices. 
• Make your entire board including chairs aware of these type of scams and remind the board of money handling best practices. 
• Know your budget well. The best indicator of a potential fraudulent activity is a request that is made for something outside of your PTAs member-approved budget.
• Make sure your board of directors is well trained! View upcoming trainings here.
• Make sure you have well documented procedures and processes for money disbursement. (See below)
• Do not click any links or download any attachments in the suspicious email.
• Inform your board that Washington State PTA and Northshore Council will not ask you to transfer money, provide personal information, or provide banking information over email.
• Verify the identity of anyone who requests your personal information by using reliable, independent means.
• Never provide banking or confidential financial or personal information in response to a suspicious email or an unverified website or form.

Step to Take If Your PTA is Victim of Fraud
​In the unfortunate event that a scammer is successful, here are are some steps your PTA should follow if funds came from your PTA account:

1. Contact your bank and put a hold on the account and stop payment on the scam payment. 
2. Call an emergency board meeting (Wait time can be waived if agreed upon by Board.) 
3. Email support@wastatepta.org
4. Call AIM to confirm insurance, etc.
5. Decide as a board if filing a police report. 

​More Online Safety Tips & How to Report Internet Fraud

• Spoofing and Phishing - FBI 
• How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams - FTC Consumer Advice
• Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) - FBI
  

How To Report Phishing
If you got a phishing email or text message, report it. The information you give helps fight scammers.

• If you got a phishing email, forward it to the Anti-Phishing Working Group at reportphishing@apwg.org.
• If you got a phishing text message, forward it to SPAM (7726).
• Report the phishing attempt to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

In preparation of your Fall membership drives, verify your online join link clear, and easy to find on the front page of your website. An online join link is a valuable tool for PTAs to use to help people easily become members of their local PTA.

BONUS: Council is also helping with easy access by including all of your online join links on our website here! 

Please take a few minutes to check the links for your school. Need to update a link? ​Email communications@northshorecouncilptsa.org.

Have a question about membership? Contact Council's Membership Co-chairs, ​​Kimberly Ortiz & Allison Torgesen​​ at membership@northshorecouncilptsa.org.

This summer, Council will be holding Office Hours on Wednesday, July 13th, from 12:00PM (noon) to 1:00PM. This is the perfect time to connect with Council, ask questions about the upcoming year, or even just stop in to say hello!

This time is designed to support our local PTA/PTSA leaders as you begin to navigate membership, programs, and managing your organization for the upcoming year. We hope you will join us!

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86598668645

Meeting ID: 865 9866 8645
Passcode: *available upon request*

If you have questions and need to connect with Council prior to this, please visit our Contact Page for a list Council Officers and their emails.

Parents and students from all communities are invited to join this ZGiRLS workshop, hosted by professional athletes, as they talk about how they learned to navigate stress & anxiety while also maintaining a growth mindset. You will learn a results-driven approach to stress management and concrete steps everyone can take to develop a growth mindset. Help your student step into their confidence and regulate their stress levels in order to prevent feeling overwhelmed and anxious all the time.

Leota PTSA, Skyview PTSA and Northshore Council PTSA are pleased to be partnering with ZGiRLS to bring you this educational event. ZGiRLS, which was founded by Olympic and NCAA female athletes, supports the mental development of girls ages 11-16 years old. All parents and students regardless of gender are welcome to this event.
 
Speakers: Prior to becoming the co-founder and executive director of ZGiRLS, Jilyne Jarvis, spent a year traveling the world with the US Ski & Snowboard team. Jilyne graduated from the University of Vermont with a bachelors in public communications.  Helena Scott was on the US Sailing Team for 5 years in which the US team placed 9th at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Helena went on to earn a bachelors in biomechanical engineering and a masters in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. She is now working as a mechanical engineer.

Questions? Email contact@leotaptsa.com.

Please join us for our 5th and final general membership meeting of the school year on Monday, May 16, 2022 via Zoom.

In addition to our regular business items, during this meeting we will be holding our annual Spring Recognition Event. At this event we will celebrate the contributions and achievements made by our amazing Northshore PTAs/PTSAs this past year and the dedicated volunteers who made it all possible. We will also be announcing Council PTSA’s award recipients during this event. 

**Council is looking for what makes you #PTAProud of your PTA. Please take a few minutes to share with us via this online form an event, program, story about your PTA. There's nothing too small or too big to share! Response is needed by Friday, May 6th. Email springrecognition@northshorecouncilptsa.org if you have questions.**

Council meetings will build your PTA knowledge, give you the opportunity to network with other PTA, school district and community leaders, and they can be a lot of fun, too. Each PTA may send up to 4 voting representatives - but we encourage ALL who are interested to attend. We look forward to seeing you there!
​
*A meeting passcode is required to join. It will be sent to local leaders via email. You can also request the passcode by emailing Council PTSA Communications VP, Rachel Fitzgerald.

You are invited to join Council's next Emergency Preparedness (E-Prep) Chair meeting!
Anyone in PTA/PTSA is welcome to attend our meetings, and we encourage all local PTA/PTSA E-Prep chairs to attend as well as PTA/PTSA Presidents and/or Vice Presidents or delegates.

In this meeting we share and obtain updates from the NSD Safety team and discuss opportunities where the PTA can provide support to our schools in the areas of emergency preparedness, safety, and security.  

Date: Tuesday, May 10th
Time: 11:00 AM to Noon, Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Zoom Link & Passcode: Available upon request

If you would like the zoom link and passcode in order to attend this meeting, or have questions concerning Emergency Preparedness, please email Council's E-Prep Co-Chairs, Tracy Jokisch & Robin McKenzie. We look forward to seeing you!

This is a multi-media Showcase event! Guests are able to view the dance and film pieces, listen to the music compositions, read the literature pieces, and view the photography and visual arts pieces.

We hope that you will be able to celebrate with your student and share this showcase with friends and family!

All 267 Northshore PTSA Council Qualifier student artworks are on display and we've indicated if the artwork was either a State Qualifier or a Judge's Choice Award recipient.

Click here to view Council's Judging Results.

Following the film will be a pre-recorded panel session addressing frequently asked questions and common discussion topics from the film.

Register for a viewing link here: https://forms.gle/QPTrFZbXaf6FcnKY9
Deadline to register is Friday, April 1st.

This event is co-sponsored by Kenmore Middle School PTSA and Northshore Council PTSA.
For questions, email Abby Polasko at treasurer@kenmoreptsa.org.