Attorney General Jack Conway, the Kentucky Department of Education, and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) are joining together to warn Kentucky school districts to be vigilant of a scam targeting schools throughout the country.

The scam, which has been the subject of national news in the past week, has made it’s way into the Clinton County School system but was quickly spotted as bogus before any local funds were paid outl

“Schools are receiving invoices for textbooks they didn’t order,” Attorney General Conway said. “It’s troubling that scammers are preying on schools and attempting to steal taxpayer money used to pay for the resources needed to help educate our children. We want every school in Kentucky to be aware of these fraudulent invoices so that they can quickly identify and report them.”

The scammers attempted to pull their illegal actions here in Clinton County, according to Mike Reeves, Finance Director of the Clinton County School District.

Reeves confirmed that the schools had received the exact same fake invoice from Scholastic School Supply in late August but it was immediately red flagged and reported by Doug Spears, Secretary II at Clinton County High School. The invoice, which was sent through the mail, was the one for the Language Arts books.

Reeves said one of the things that flagged the invoice as phoney was that it didn’t contain a P.O. (purchase order) number and credited the school district’s “good internal controls” for catching the scam as bogus.

“We were probably among the first group of schools that received the fake invoice,” said Reeves, adding that a few schools that had received the exact same phoney invoices had probably paid it.

Spears said that when the fake invoice arrived, he contacted CCHS Principal Sheldon Harlan and when it was learned through other sources at the school that no such textbooks had been ordered, they reported the invoice to authorities.

Spears said the invoice “looked very authentic,” and was from Scholastic School Supply and was postmarked from Las Vegas, Nevada. It was for the Language Arts Practice books in the amount of $688.40.

Spears said he reported the invoice as a scam online and also had conducted a Google search and found a list of other schools that had also received the fake invoices and had reported it as a scam.

The website, leojames.wordpress.com also contained a list of complaints that had been posted about the fake company.

Spears also noted that the name, as reported in the Attorney General’s alert to schools in Kentucky, was similar to Scholastics, Inc. which is a legitimate supply company for school materials.

He further said that the district had also been targeted by another scammer and also was red flagged, that being one that posed as a Postage Meter Company.

Fortunately, most school districts, including Clinton County, discovered the invoices as being bogus, did not pay it, and reported it to the proper investigators.

Schools nationwide, including at least one school in Kentucky, have received invoices in the mail from Scholastic School Supply for books they never ordered. The bogus invoices are from $647.50 for the bulk purchase of “English-Language Arts Practice Books” or $388.50 for Mark Workbooks. The Better Business Bureau received a complaint on August 20 and has since received 90 complaints from schools in 27 states. Attempts to contact the company have failed. Additionally, the phone invoices list an address in either Las Vegas, Nevada or Sewell, New Jersey, which are both mail drops.

“At a time when our schools are undertaking massive reforms to better prepare children for success in college and careers, it is unfortunate they now have to contend with scam artists who seek to undermine their work and the progress of our children,” Education Commissioner Terry Holliday said. “I urge school personnel to be vigilant in examining all vendor invoices to ensure they are legitimate before paying them, and ask them to report any suspicious invoices to the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office and the Better Business Bureau. I applaud the Attorney General’s Office for being proactive in this matter, and alerting us to this scam so that we can ensure that no Kentucky schools are caught up in its deception.”

In an invoice scam, the scammer generally sends a phoney invoice hoping the organization will pay before realizing it never ordered or received the products. Scammers often use names that are similar to well-known businesses to make their scams seem legitimate. In this case, the fake invoices are from Scholastic School Supply, a name similar to Scholastic Inc., a supplier of educational materials. Scholastic Inc., has issued a statement regarding the fraudulent use of its name and trademarks.

“The BBB has heard from schools and school districts across the country that have received this phoney invoice, including schools in Kentucky and Indiana,” said Charles Mattingly, president and CEO of the BBB serving Louisville, Indiana and Western Kentucky. “The scammers are maliciously sending this invoice at exactly the time when schools are likely to be paying for legitimate book orders.”

Schools and other organizations should remember the following tips to avoid potential scams:

* Encourage your financial staff to watch for invoice scams.

* Make sure the invoice is coming from a valid source.

* Check out the company that is sending the invoice.

* Centralize purchasing and billing so that the person or persons paying the invoices know what was ordered and who the vendors are.

* Do a basic Internet search to see if other organizations have reported similar problems.

Schools are advised to not pay suspicious invoices, but instead report them to Attorney General Conway’s Office of Consumer Protection at www.ag.ky.gov/commissioner or by calling 1-888-432-9257.