Police has urged the public to be on their guard as fraudsters, conmen and thieves are using this period when schools are reopening to scam parents of their money and property.
The warning was relayed by police spokesperson Fred Enanga in a police statement.
“As schools prepare to open on the 10.01.2022, we have started getting concerns from the public, about conmen who are targeting vulnerable students, families, and good Samaritans, with fake bursaries, scholarships, and fundraising activities,” said Enanga in a statement.
Enanga revealed that there are fraudsters who are using the “O” level results of a one Atucungwire Princess, who passed in Grade 1, from Kibingo Girls SSS, to solicit funds.
“We are asking the public to ignore the tweet that has gone viral, simply because the victim has already secured sponsorship from an American organization.
As a result, a case file has been opened at Sheema police station, to track down the culprits. We are also using this opportunity to call upon any persons who could have fallen victim to this fundraising scam or other form of education scam, to liaise with the police at Sheema,” he said.
The other common areas of fraud are; offers of bursaries and admissions to schools never applied for, processing fees for bursaries, companies with expensive and sometimes vague bursaries to mention but a few.
“It is, therefore, important that parents and students do sufficient homework by researching about the scholarship or bursary. They should look for previous beneficiaries or students for legitimacy,” he said.