Common scam scenarios

Paying fees to a third party

Situation: A student is approached and asked to pay their fees to a third party, sometimes with the promise of a discount on their fees. The student makes a payment to the third party but the third party pays the University using stolen credit cards, or doesn’t make the payment at all.

Unfortunately, in such cases the fees remain unsettled even if the student initially may receive a payment statement. Transactions from illegitimate channels will ultimately be cancelled and the student is still required to pay in full, or risk losing their place in their course.

What to do: Reject the offer and only pay your fees through an approved payment method.

Scammers posing as authorities and demanding money

Situation: People posing as authorities, government officials, police investigation teams or employees of international shipping companies contact students, and accuse them of being involved in fraudulent activities and threaten them with deportation or expulsion.

The scammers then demand large sums of money be transferred into a particular bank account or they demand the students’ address, passport number and banking details.

What to do: Stop the communication and report the issue to the Monash security team immediately by calling: +61 3 9902 7777.