Private school parents warned of fee scam
Victorian parents are being targeted by scammers pretending to be from their children’s school offering discounted fees.
Education
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Private school parents have been warned of a scam trying to con them into handing their financial details over to thieves for payment of school fees.
On WhatsApp groups and social media, parents are sharing details of a scam alert sent by a Queensland school with potential losses of thousands of dollars.
The scam goes like this: Parents are called by a scammer pretending to be from school, offering a 30 per cent discount on fees if they pay straight away.
The parent gives their credit card details and invoice details, and the scammer pays the school with a credit card via e-payment BPOINT.
The parent gets a receipt for the payment and the scammer than makes a second payment then calls the parent to say the payment was made twice and will be refunded.
The school is then called by the scammer pretending to be the parent and asking for a refund, which is then not paid to the actual parent but the fraudster.
The Queensland school’s deputy principal warns: “Please be assured that our accounts department will only process and approve credit card refund to the originating credit card.”
A similar UK scam offering a 25 per cent discount on fees for parents who paid using bitcoin targeted such august colleges as Royal Grammar School in Newcastle.
It comes as Victorian parents, including those from Whitefriars College, were conned of their tuition fees by a fake education consultant.
She changed the school’s bank details to her own and hiked up fees by more than $10,000.
Those conned included Christal Lau, who paid $37,792 to secure an enrolment for her brother at the Donvale school.
The fraudster, Kate Choi, pleaded guilty to stealing $94,573 from six international students in the Frankston Magistrate’s Court in 2018.
Strathcona Girls’ Grammar also had its parents targeted by a scammer sending out bogus invoices for outstanding fees in 2021.
According to the ACCC, Australians lost a record $3.1 billion to scammers in 2022.
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