Thousands of schools across the UK, Ireland, and Italy received threatening emails on Wednesday, November 11, in a coordinated wave that authorities are treating as hoaxes.
In Scotland, at least 470 primary and secondary schools received the email, Police confirmed. Similar messages were sent to more than 300 schools in Italy, which received the threats, with hundreds evacuated as a precaution.
Police in the Republic of Ireland said they were aware of a “generic communication” sent to educational establishments but dismissed it as “not credible.” The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the email originated from outside the UK and was being treated as a hoax.
PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Anthony McNally said: “We take incidents of this nature very seriously, and we understand the concern in the community, school communities, and for students and parents. Our enquiries are ongoing; however, at this stage we consider the risk to the public as low.”
Police Scotland has informed that its cyber and fraud unit is working to determine the source of the message, which has been posted on distribution lists in the UK and Northern Ireland. However, the force stated that there is “no requirement to evacuate schools or stop children attending school on the basis of the email alone.”
However, despite this piece of advice, some schools have initiated their emergency plans. Some children from Edinburgh’s Queensferry High School have been evacuated and sent back home, while Highland Council said that some of its schools have taken similar action. In Northern Ireland, Victoria Primary School in Co Down has evacuated children to a nearby church.
This case is similar to an attack that occurred on Oct. 19, when more than 300 schools got fake bomb threats, leading to over 300 calls to the police. Northern Ireland’s Education Authority has informed that the new message has “similarities” to last month’s threat.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has stated that there is no danger involved in these threats.
