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Watch out for tuition fee fraud

27 August 2020

Tuition/Residence Fees are a huge investment, especially for international students, and it’s understandable to be tempted if someone offers you a discount. But beware – criminals might try to take advantage of this.

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What is Tuition Fee Fraud and how does it work?

We’ve heard recently that scammers have been reaching out to international students to befriend them and tell them that they have a way to reduce the cost of university tuition fees. They promise a discount or a better rate of exchange if you make your fee payments to them – and in return they will pay your fees directly to UCL.

The person approaching you might be another student (at UCL or elsewhere), or could be a friend or family acquaintance. They will offer to arrange a discount for you by paying on your behalf – either asking you to pay your money to someone else, or make a payment through a website, which may look completely genuine.

Offers like these are usually part of a card scam, where payments are made to a student’s accounts using stolen cards.

The person will make the payment towards your fees as agreed, so everything may seem legitimate at first. However, the payment will either be declined at a later date, or it will become invalid once it is realised that the payment card was stolen or cloned. Occasionally, scammers will attempt to make numerous lower value payments using several different cards to try to until one works. The result is that you have lost your money and unknowingly become involved in illegal activity and your Tuition Fees will still be payable.

Remember: You should only ever pay your UCL Tuition Fees directly to UCL. You can find out details of how to do this on our Students website.

What can you do to avoid Tuition Fee fraud?

  • Be wary of approaches made on WeChat, facebook, Instagram or any other method
  • Only pay tuition fees directly to the university and not through third parties.
  • Report any suspicious contacts to UCL Security and the Fees Team.
  • Don’t share personal information or login details.
  • Don’t be pressured into making payments because of an ‘offer expiring’. Criminals will try to rush or panic you.
  • Don’t pay any type of tuition fee in cash to individuals or contacts through WeChat.

Remember: If it seems too good to be true, it is!

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