Havre schools warn of telephone scam

The Havre Public Schools district is warning people not to give money to telemarketers saying they are looking for money to help Havre students — or for any reason.

“We just don’t operate like that,” Havre Superintendent Andy Carlson said.

Carlson  said people contacted the district saying they received calls from telemarketers asking for money to help Havre students buy lunch. The telemarketers are not connected with the district, he said, and the district never uses telemarketers.

“You will hear directly from us, from our foundation,” if something is needed, Carlson said.

The most irritating thing is people, organizations and businesses in the community do send money to help students who need the help to buy lunches, which makes the scam seem legitimate, he said.

“This really makes me angry,” Carlson said. “They all make me angry, but this.  … We just really don’t operate like this”

He said people can notify the police if they receive scam calls, and, while the Havre district already knows about this scam, if people receive a call that seems odd they can notify the district.

“It always helps to have it on the radar,” Carlson said. “Please call us. We hate to see people give up their hard-earned money, and it’s not legit.”