Fraudsters are actively deceiving prospective students and current students by impersonating university or college staff. The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), Irina Volk, issued a warning via her Telegram channel about these insidious schemes related to admissions.
According to Volk, perpetrators call potential victims, introducing themselves as members of admissions committees, dean`s offices, or accounting departments of educational institutions. Their goal is to extort money or confidential personal data from applicants and students. An example of such a trick includes asking for an SMS code, purportedly to confirm a diploma from a previously completed university. Volk also noted that fraudsters might pressure victims into installing malicious software on their devices or threaten them with criminal prosecution for alleged assistance to the Ukrainian army.
“We strongly urge citizens to exercise maximum caution and be skeptical of calls from individuals claiming to be employees of higher education institutions,” the MIA representative emphasized. She reminded the public that neither state agency employees nor representatives of commercial companies have the right to demand citizens perform any financial transactions with their funds.
Previously, there were reports of rental scams where fraudsters, posing as property owners, collected security deposits and then disappeared.
