Sri Lanka CERT warns of overseas university admission scams
Sri Lanka CERT has warned the public of fraudulent social media advertisements offering admission to foreign universities after receiving complaints from parents and students who have lost hundreds of thousands of rupees to scammers. The fraudsters reportedly pose as representatives of reputed foreign universities, promising admission, student visas, work permits and even eventual citizenship in…
The Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) has issued a public warning about fraudulent social media advertisements that promise admission to foreign universities. Complaints from parents and students have led CERT to discover that scammers are posing as representatives of prestigious foreign universities. These fraudsters entice victims with promises of admission, student visas, work permits, and even potential citizenship, all in exchange for registration fees and initial tuition payments.
They utilize convincing videos, photographs, and documents shared through email and WhatsApp to build trust with their targets before requesting monetary transfers to foreign bank accounts. Once the payments are made, the scammers vanish, leaving the victims with significant financial losses. CERT advises prospective students and their parents to carefully verify the authenticity of university representatives, documents, and bank account details before engaging in any financial transactions.
Additionally, they emphasize that overseas education opportunities should only be pursued through legitimate and recognized channels.
Written by urgent.news from The Island Sri Lanka's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
