Scam targeting parents of schoolchildren

Police Headquarters has begun an investigation regarding a gang who have either embezzled money from wealthy parents after informing that their children attending school have fallen seriously ill or robbing their houses after parents rush to hospital or school after receiving such information.

So far, such incidents have been reported from many parts of the country including Colombo, and Police say that similar incidents have been reported from several schools in Kurunegala town.

Earlier, the father of a child of a reputed school in Colombo had received a phone call from a person who identified himself as the Deputy Principal of the school and informed that his child had suddenly become unwell and was admitted to the hospital and that money was needed for an emergency surgery.

The father of the child in question is a lawyer and when he called the school, authorities had assured that his child is well and was in the class. Accordingly, he had taken steps to lodge a complaint with the Police. On the eighth of last month, one of the two sisters studying in a school in Kurunegala had not gone to school, while the other sister had attended.

Their father works in a bank in Kurunegala and the daughter who was at home had called him and said that a school teacher had informed her over the phone that her elder sister who went to school had suddenly fallen ill.

When the father made a call to the phone from which the message was given, the person identified as the teacher who answered had said that his daughter was in a critical condition after being admitted to the Kurunegala Hospital and was being taken by ambulance to the Kandy General Hospital for further treatment.

The father, who did not make any inquiries from the school, had left for Kandy with his wife as soon as possible in the office van.

However, a colleague of his who felt suspicious about the incident had called both the hospital and the school and had got confirmation that the student was well and she was in her classroom.

The father of the student has said the person who had called him had asked for money to attend to his daughter’s immediate medical needs. However, before he credited any money his friend had called him and informed him that his daughter was at School.

It is reported that on the same day of this incident, a similar phone call was made to the father of a student studying in another leading boys’ school in Kurunegala.

After receiving the message, he had sent the child’s grandfather to the school to find out about the child’s illness and had found out the call was a bogus one. Similar incidents have already been reported in many parts of the country.

Some who have been fooled by the phone messages given by this fraudulent gang and have panicked and given money without looking for information. There have also been cases where parents houses have been robbed when they left their houses to inquire about the information they received.

Police urge the public not to be fooled by these fake phone calls and verify details from school authorities without panicking.

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