By Anthony Ngatia

Lydia Chesang received a call from the ‘class teacher’ of her daughter who is in form three in a prominent public secondary school in the Rift Valley province informing her that her daughter is among those students just about to be sent home over fees balance.

But instead of going all the way to the school, the teacher told her to “send the balance over the mobile phone" Because a teacher is a respected person, and no parent could ignore their advice.

So, she scoured her pockets, borrowed from friends and got Sh5,000 the fees balance, which she sent quickly to the ‘class teacher’ to keep her child at school.

Unbeknown to the poor mother, she had yet become the latest victim of the newest form of fraud pitting parents and school children on one hand, against some crooks aided by mobile technology.

Usually, they impersonate the class teacher of your child or the head teacher — the two people who matter most at school with regard to your child.

“It’s really awkward that this is happening using the name of the people who are supposed to be most trusted by society,” says Francis Mwangi, a teacher.

Awkward

“It’s the concern that parents have for their children at school and the trust they have for their teachers that is making the silent fraud to thrive.”

A number of parents and teachers in another school in the Rift Valley confessed to have been conned by the fraudsters. One parent is said to have lost Sh20,000 after sending what he thought was ‘school fees’ to his daughter’s bonafide class teacher last term.

He only realised later that something was wrong when his child was sent home because she had not paid her fees. His shock and disbelief took him to school to raise the matter with the school authorities. But he was shocked when the school informed him that it would never ask parents to send money over mobile phones.

“Some con men seem to be working with some school’s insiders on this,” says Francis, whose name has been used severally by conmen to solicit for money from parents.

“That they even have the admission number and exact fees balances of the students whose parents they intend to target, which is quite strange.”

And he says these accomplices could be anyone — from bursars, secretaries, other support staff, to even teachers.

“These could be either knowingly or unknowingly releasing students’ financial and other details to undeserving parties who might be using the information for criminal purposes,” says Francis.

He blames some NGOs that go to schools purporting to be offering help to needy students. Some unscrupulous staffers within those organisations get access to students’ records and their fees payment histories and use that for selfish purposes.

He cites a case last year where a reputable international organisation visited his school to ‘support’ needy students with bursaries, only for  some staffers of the said NGO to start calling the parents of the very needy students demanding money from them to ‘facilitate processing’ of the bursary.

“It was quite embarrassing as the crooks were using our teachers’ names to defraud parents,” Mwangi says.

Mrs. Chesang cites the case of another parent who got defrauded in a similar manner and reported to the police station, only for the number to become untraceable since it has been dead since then.

Perfect trap

“That parent lost Sh10,000 believing that she was sending fees to her son’s ‘principal’,” she says.

David Ngotho, an accountant in a top public school, says that schools could be setting themselves up for fraud once they give multiple mobile numbers where parents can use to send money to schools.

“Fraudsters know that over eighty per cent of students could be have fees balances, and owing to the wastefulness occasioned by a child’s movement to and from school, it looks and sounds convincing to send the money.”

So what are the signs that you might be a target of fraud?

For starters, be wary of strange numbers purporting to be from your child’s school teacher, inquiries purportedly from other parents informing you that your child is to be sent from school over fees balances, and even calls from strange callers claiming they have the custody of your child who has been sent home over school fees.

But not all calls could be fraud.  Sometimes, a teacher might actually make a genuine call to a parent over one issue or another related to the child.

So what can a parent do to prevent the scam?

Do not send any money by phones to any strange number, from strange persons.

“If you have to send any money to school either for your child’s pocket money or fees, first confirm with the school that the number is correct,” says Mwangi. Most schools have a dedicated line for mobile money transfers, and you should obtain it personally from the school.

“Avoid having to send money to school very often,” says Ngotho. “This can be possible by giving your child sufficient money that can last until they come home for mid- term break or have a visiting day.”

Another safe method of sending money is by “depositing in the school’s bank account, which is readily available in most banks nowadays,” says Ngotho.

Still, some civic efforts could help. Parents can lobby for the centralisation of payments for all monies to school.