Schools across Scotland targeted with fresh hoax bomb threats
Police confirm 470 schools in Scotland and 300 in Northern Ireland received hoax emails, with no credible threat identified.
Quick Look
- Hundreds of schools across Scotland and Northern Ireland have been targeted by hoax bomb threat emails.
- Police have confirmed the threats are not credible and advised that evacuations are unnecessary, while cyber crime units investigate the source.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
A similar wave of hoax emails was sent to schools across the country on 19 October, resulting in over 300 police calls.
Schools across Scotland have been targeted with a fresh wave of hoax bomb threats, less than a month after a previous alert.
The force said at least 470 schools had received the email but that the warnings were "immediately assessed" as hoaxes and there was nothing to suggest a credible threat.
Specialist cyber crime officers are working to identify the source of the messages, which were sent to both primary and secondary schools.
Similar "bogus" emails were also sent to 300 schools in Northern Ireland.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "We understand how distressing messages of this nature can be for pupils, parents, carers and school staff, and the concern they can understandably cause.
"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."
Most local authorities contacted by BBC Scotland said schools were operating as normal but some confirmed pupils had been evacuated.
More than 300 calls were made to police when a similar message was sent to schools around the country on 19 October.
In many areas, pupils were off due to half-term holidays.
Open Questions
- Who is responsible for sending the hoax emails?
- Are the threats linked to the October 19 incident?
