Oviedo police interviewing students in school district Twitter hoax investigation

OVIEDO, Fla. — Oviedo police are investigating a fake Twitter account designed to look like the one used by the Seminole County School District.

The fake account posted a tweet on Thursday claiming that classes would be canceled at Oviedo High School on Friday due to threats of student violence, the district said.

There was a fake press release attached to the tweet, police said.

Oviedo police said they have an idea of where the account originated from, and officers are already interviewing students.

The fake account, @SCPSInformation, had no followers and only made eight posts, compared to the real account, which has more than 6,000 followers and has tweeted nearly 5,000 times.

“(The fake account) had my name on it, actually, to make it appear that it was coming straight from the school district,” said Michael Lawrence, the SCPS communications officer.

Posting from the legitimate SCPS Twitter account, @SCPSInfo, the district warned residents and students not to be taken in by the hoax.

“OHS is open as normal tomorrow,” SCPS tweeted.

“Law enforcement is currently investigating the situation, and those responsible will be held accountable,” the district tweeted. “If this were a real message, we would use our district’s phone/email blast alert system to notify our families.”

As the fake post began to spread, school officials were scrambling to send robo-calls and emails to parents.

“If I had seen the (tweet), I would have gone to the school website and determined if it was real,” said parent Robert White.

The district’s Twitter account is not verified, but school officials said they are working on that.

“We are waiting on Twitter now to do that, and hopefully soon that will get done,” Lawrence said.

Oviedo police did bring in extra security on Thursday and Friday because of the student fight rumors.

Cox Media Group