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- Admission structure: high competition for paid tuition at universities provoked an increase in fraud
Admission structure: high competition for paid tuition at universities provoked an increase in fraud
Fraudsters are twice as likely to use the topic of university admission to deceive applicants and their parents. The attackers offer to "secure" a place, speed up enrollment, or pay for a reserve at a commercial branch. The situation is aggravated by the fact that by the end of September, applicants who have not passed the budget will receive contracts for paid tuition even before the admission orders. The activity of intruders increased against the background of high competition: even applicants with very high USE scores faced difficulties in applying to the budget, while the number of paid places decreased. Experts warn that in the last weeks of the admission campaign, scammers will use the fear of losing their place and lack of time for social engineering. How to recognize deception and not become a victim — in the material of Izvestia.
Agreement with the university prior to enrollment
Anna Chebotareva, a graduate of one of the Moscow schools (name changed), received an agreement on August 9 to pay for the first semester of study at the university through Gosuslugi. However, there have been no final enrollment orders yet. The family was also alarmed by the amount — it was necessary to pay more than 200 thousand rubles.
— I called the admissions office of the university where my daughter is enrolled. It turned out that this is a standard practice — universities thus confirm the intention of future students to study with them. If the child does not arrive, they are obligated to return the money," Olga Chebotareva, the applicant's mother (name changed), told Izvestia.
According to her, the need to independently verify the authenticity of the document arose due to the fact that it was impossible to understand the website of the educational institution. At the same time, the alarm was reinforced by an unusually high competition: initially, two people applied for one place at the paid department. After sending out the contracts, the family discovered that only 12 people had paid for the first semester.
— The requirements for admission and payment for the first year or semester of study are formulated in too complicated language. It is difficult for many parents to recognize the real requirements and risks in the texts overloaded with legal constructions," said Igor Bederov, Chairman of the Council for Combating Technological Offenses of the Constitutional Court of the National Security Service of Russia, founder of the Internet Search company.
This year, the competition for university places has intensified for several reasons. Russian universities have reduced 47,000 paid places, by about 13% of the total number. At the same time, almost 9 thousand schoolchildren received 100 points on the Unified State Exam. In leading Moscow universities, the budget competition in certain areas exceeded 150-200 people per place. An additional factor was the increase in the number of Olympic winners and prize-winners enrolled in top universities. As a result, applicants across the country began to report that they did not pass the budget even with very high EXAM scores. The admission campaign for paid places in universities at all levels of higher education will end on September 30.
By itself, sending the contract before the publication of the enrollment order is not a fraudulent scheme. However, this feature of the admission campaign allows attackers to imitate the official correspondence of the university and demand money under the guise of tuition fees. Applicants regularly check the competition lists, monitor the websites and social networks of universities and wait for information about enrollment. Therefore, a letter with the wording "we draw your attention to the need to conclude a contract for the provision of paid services" may look quite convincing, said the head of the Department for work with universities of the Department of Education and Interaction with educational organizations of the Dobro Association.Russia", expert of the presidential platform "Russia — the land of opportunities" Olga Klyuchevskaya.
— The university can really inform the applicant about the need to conclude a contract, confirm the data in his personal account and perform other actions as part of the admission procedure. However, such a message should be checked in the account on the website or through the official contacts of the admissions committee. Especially if the letter contains a link, banking details, a request to pay for training or provide additional information," the specialist warned.
So, the scammers called an applicant from St. Petersburg, introduced themselves as admissions officers and informed them about the opportunity to enroll as part of an additional set. However, they stressed that the offer is valid for only one day. To "process the documents", the applicant was sent an email with a link.
— It was only after clicking on the link that the young man realized that he had encountered scammers. In fact, there were no official reports about the additional recruitment from the university, and the link led to a third—party resource," Olga Klyuchevskaya said.
A fake solution to the problem of admission and deferral
According to the Information Protection company, by the beginning of August, the number of appeals, phishing mailings and cases of social engineering related to the admission campaign increased by 48% compared to the same period in 2025. The share of scenarios offering "accelerated admission" increased from 21% to 34% in June–July. The average damage in confirmed cases amounted to 27 thousand rubles, and in 12% of incidents exceeded 100 thousand.
— A typical scenario of such an attack consists of several stages. First, the attacker collects public information about the applicant and the university. To do this, he does not need access to the university's information systems: it is enough to know the direction of training, the timing of publication of orders, the structure of the admissions committee, the names of employees and the specifics of the current admission stage. Then the fraudster contacts the applicant or his parents on behalf of an admissions officer, an assistant dean, an operator of the unified enrollment center or technical support," said Pavel Kovalenko, director of the anti—fraud center of the company.
An attacker can name the actual dates and direction of training, refer to a published order or the name of an admissions officer. Such details give the impression that the offer of "help" is indeed part of the interaction with the university. Then the communication is transferred from the official channel to a messenger or phone chat. At this stage, the main condition appears: the applicant is offered to urgently "secure a place", make a guarantee payment, pay for the execution of the contract, confirm priority or transfer documents to complete the procedure. As a result, the scammers receive money or personal data. For payment, they can send the details of an individual, a QR code or a link to a fake form.
— Phishing mailings with topics like "Confirm enrollment" or "Pay the registration fee" have become a separate problem. They disguise themselves as official notifications, and because of deadlines, applicants and their parents do not always have time to check the sender's address. According to the statistics of incidents reported to us by the victims, the average damage was about 27 thousand rubles, while in 12% of cases the transfer amount exceeded 100 thousand rubles. We transfer the collected information to law enforcement agencies, as a result of which criminal cases are initiated," Alla Khrapunova, deputy head of the Popular Front for Borrowers' Rights project, curator of the Moshelovka platform, told Izvestia.
In addition to money, intruders can get passport data, SNILS, exam results and parents' contacts. In the future, this information will be used for new attacks. One of these cases occurred in the Vladimir region. The scammers called a teenager whose full name, full date of birth and place of residence were published on social networks. He was informed that the chances of admission at the local university were high, and they offered to confirm the application by giving him a six-digit SMS code. The teenager dictated the code, after which the attackers tried to gain access to his account on Gosuslugi. The attack was prevented thanks to an additional confirmation of authorization in the Maks messenger, Igor Bederov said.
— Financial losses are only part of the damage. In such schemes, fraudsters also try to obtain passport data, SNILS, bank details or access to "Public Services," said Lyudmila Bogatyreva, head of the Polylog agency's IT department and expert at ROCIT.
Another scenario is the offer of "formal admission" or assistance in obtaining a deferral from military service. Such schemes are distributed through messengers, social networks and applicant communities. For greater credibility, scammers can use compromised university accounts.
— Any paid opportunity to speed up, secure or guarantee a place is fraud by definition. There are no legal mechanisms to influence the lists for money, so there is no need to understand the details of the scheme: the offer itself is already a sign of fraud," said Anton Bochkarev, CEO of information security companies 3side and 4sec.
The main difference this year is the improvement of the quality of social engineering. AI allows you to create convincing texts and websites faster, visually similar to official resources. Therefore, relying only on the ability to recognize a fraudster by an illiterate letter or an obvious mistake is no longer enough, said Fedor Chunizhekov, head of the Positive Technologies research group.
Andrey Sidenko, Head of Kaspersky Lab's Online Child safety department, advises checking any information about admission only through the university's official website, the applicant's personal account, or the admissions office. You should not follow links from private messages, send documents to private chats, or pay for a "seat reserve" using a QR code sent by an unknown person.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
