Alert: Scholarship Scam Targets Parents of TN School Students

Several parents of Class 10 to 12 in Tamil Nadu schools have fallen victim to a new scholarship scam wherein the scamsters are pretending to be government officials. In many cases, parents have lost amounts ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000. The instances of such scams are on the rise across the state. While some parents are vigilant enough, others fall prey to the seemingly authentic scholarship calls.

Recently, parents of a Class 12 students at a government school in Tirunelveli received a call informing that the girl has won a scholarship worth Rs 28,500, however, the father disconnected the call when asked for the UPI ID connected with his phone number to transfer the amount. He refused to share details before clarifying it from his daughter’s school.

Awareness Campaign Initiated

Taking a note of the situation, the state school education department has asked Chief Educational Officers (CEOs) across the state to create awareness about these scams and prevent the parents and students from falling prey to them. The awareness drive has been initiated through a circular, cautioning the parents not to share any personal, confidential of banking details with anyone.

The police is investigating the case, however, neither the education department nor the police have any idea how the fraudsters have got access to the students’ data. It must be noted though that the school education department along with TN e-Governance Agency is providing Aadhaar enrolment facilities in schools across the state for the disbursement of scholarships.

Furthermore, while some parents have raised concerns over these scams and registered their complaints, many of them have not lodged any complaints despite loosing money to the scamsters.

How Do Scamsters Trick Parents?

The scam starts with getting access to personal data/details of the students, including the parents and getting them on a call. Once they are able to trick the parents/students, they ask for more confidential and personal details. Parents are shared a fake QR code on whatsapp on the pretext of depositing the scholarship amount. Once the QR code is canned, they get the desired success, initially, in depositing the committed amount and then withdrawing more money later from that account.

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