Telephone and email scams targeting our students

20 Dec 2019

You may be contacted by one of our students concerned about a telephone call or email they have received

There is an active tuition fees scam currently targeting our international students, particularly Chinese, Taiwanese and Indian students.

These scams are taking a number of forms, including the following scenarios:

• The student is contacted by someone claiming to be from the University, demanding that tuition fees need to be paid in part or full.  The University would never call a student and ask them to transfer money into a bank account. If fees are owed, the student would receive an email from the Finance Office.
• The student is called by someone pretending to be from the Home Office or a police force oversees who claim they suspect the student is involved in criminal activity.
• The student is contacted by someone claiming to be from a courier company demanding that a tax or fine needs to be paid on an undelivered parcel.

More information

Neither the Home Office or any police force or legitimate company would ask anyone to give out bank details over the phone, transfer funds, or pay a fine. Any caller who asks anyone to do any of these is trying to commit a fraud.

Staff should be aware that students have been asked to report any scam activity to our University by speaking to a member of ResLife, or someone working in Student Support. If a student tells you that they have been approached, please can you email brief details to orientation@manchester.ac.uk.

There is also a dedicated page aimed at students giving advice on how to avoid scams and risks.