UoM warns students to stay “vigilant” after phishing scam

The University of Manchester has warned international students to stay vigilant after they have become the target of an email phishing scam.

It’s thought that the scam has been specially aimed at pre-sessional language students who arrive at University early in order to go on an intensive English language course before their classes start in September.

A University of Manchester spokesperson said: “The University has been made aware of an email phishing scam that is targeting incoming international students. A small number of students have received a fake invoice via email requesting they pay for mandatory services for their arrival in Manchester.

“The emails offer services such as airport transfers, campus and city tours, accommodation advice, and access to safety services. We offer all these services to students for free and would never ask students for any payments of this kind via email. These emails can look genuine as the invoices include our logos and come from copycat [email] addresses such as @university-of-manchester.ac.uk, or @student-support.co.uk.

“But we advise students to be extremely vigilant when checking correspondence with the University and if they receive a suspicious email, do not click on any links or reply and make the University aware immediately. Students can find out more online on our Welcome pages under the ‘international’ tab.

“The safety and well-being of our current and prospective students, both on and offline, is of utmost importance to us and they can be assured the University is working diligently with all relevant parties to ensure we get to the bottom of this scam as quickly as possible”.

This is a developing story, with more to follow.