Hundreds of schools across Scotland and Northern Ireland received hoax bomb threat emails on Wednesday, and police said there is nothing to suggest the messages represent a credible threat or any wider danger to the public.
Police Scotland said at least 470 schools received the email, which was immediately assessed as a hoax, while about 300 schools in Northern Ireland received a similar bogus message. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said the email originated outside the UK.
Most schools operated as normal, but some evacuated as a precaution. In Edinburgh, Queensferry High School was evacuated and pupils were sent home. Some schools in Dumfries and Galloway were also evacuated, and Highland Council said a number of its schools activated their emergency protocols. Local authorities in Glasgow, East Lothian, Aberdeenshire and Orkney confirmed their schools received the message.
“We understand how distressing messages of this nature can be for pupils, parents, carers and school staff,” a Police Scotland spokesperson said. “Our advice is that there is no requirement to evacuate schools or keep children away from education based solely on the content of the emails.”
Police Scotland’s Cyber and Fraud Unit is carrying out extensive enquiries to establish the source of the messages, working with law enforcement partners across the UK and internationally. It is the second such wave in weeks: a similar message sent to schools on October 19, also treated as a hoax, prompted more than 300 calls to police.
JBizNews Desk | Edinburgh
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