Pranksters rename BC school and officials are struggling to change it back

Apr 3 2023, 7:32 pm

A BC school district is not laughing after a “simple prank” went too far.

Parents of Glenbrook Middle School received emails last week warning them of the “unfortunate and unintended consequences” caused by a prankster.

Just a few days before April Fools, the New Westminster School District learned someone was able to own the Google business associated with the middle school temporarily.

This means the hacker could rename the Glenbrook Middle School “Vape City” on Google.

Google screenshot

Google screenshot

The district’s Technology and Information Services (TIS) department immediately contacted Google’s channels to resolve the issue, the school district told Daily Hive.

Parents were advised to save the school’s phone number to their contact list to prevent confusion.

“Unfortunately, some android phones look to Google listings to support their Caller-ID services. Which means that [if] you have an android phone, it’s possible that someone from the school will be trying to reach out to you, and it may show up on your phone as Vape city,” the email reads.

It took a week after learning about the prank for the name of the school to be corrected online.

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