No, SMMUSD Superintendent Ben Drati didn't call you and ask you to buy him a gift card

SMMUSD spokes woman Gail Pinsker sent an e mail on Tuesday afternoon, warning local families that they may receive phone calls from scanners urging them to purchase gift cards for local schools. Apparently, the scammers say they are working for School District Superintendent Ben Drati, and asking the recipient to purchase a gift card for the district.

Some of our PTA groups, staff are collecting for needy families, so please continue to vet the requester, and support as you can and see fit. Or, refer to our resources page for support: http://www.smmusd.org/familyresources," Pinsker writes.

The email from SMMUSD reads:

Hello everyone,

We have reports that someone is texting our staff purporting to be Ben Drati and asking for gift cards to be purchased and the codes sent back to this person.

THIS IS A SCAM!

Dr. Drati is not making any requests of this nature.

Some of our PTA groups, staff are collecting for needy families, so please continue to vet the requester, and support as you can and see fit. Or, refer to our resources page for support: http://www.smmusd.org/familyresources.

I recommend that you report this to the Santa Monica Police Department. We are also going to contact them and ask them to investigate.

Again, please ignore any text purporting to be Dr. Drati asking for gift cards.

Thank you,

Gail Pinsker

Community & Public Relations Officer

Santa Monica - Malibu Unified School District