Threat made at Moberly school involved phone scam

MOBERLY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Moberly School District posted on its social media that a threat was made against one of its schools.

The school district wrote that a phone scam was attempted at South Park Elementary. The scam allegedly includes the caller to issue a threat of the party who was called does not transfer Bitcoin to the scammer, the school wrote.

The posts – written at 2:11 p.m. -- states that the call was not local and police remained at the school out of an abundance of caution. The school district describe the call as a “swatting call.”

Swatting occurs when someone makes a prank call or message to draw a surprise emergency response to an address. A Columbia synagogue was recently a target of a swatting call.

The Moberly School District wrote that the phone scam has been attempted at other schools around the country and advised that if you receive a “swatting call,” to write down the number – if possible – and call 911.

ABC 17 News reached out to the Moberly Police Department.