Police warn of phishing scam targeting UofT students with fraudsters demanding immediate tuition payment

A person walks past the University of Toronto campus in Toronto, Wednesday, June 10, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Police are warning of a scam targeting University of Toronto students, where fraudsters email them demanding outstanding tuition fees be paid immediately—or be removed from their registered courses.

In a template email shared by the University of Toronto earlier this month, the fraudsters issue a “final reminder” to students to pay their remaining fall tuition fees with an initial deposit of $2,000 to $5,000 immediately to secure their spot in those courses and avoid disruption to their academic services, like accessing their transcripts and online student portals.

“This initial deposit is mandatory, even if you have applied for OSAP or are awaiting external funding,” the template email reads.

The students are then asked to send that money via e-transfer, transferring the money to a personal email account with no direct association with the university.

“This is a scam, and there are some red flags you should watch out for,” Toronto Police Media Relations Officer Cindy Chung said in a video shared on X.

According to police, some of those red flags include pressure to send a large amount of money quickly with threats of losing access to academic services, payment by Interac e-Transfer, and follow-up emails demanding more money even after the first transfer is made.

“Remember, universities will never ask for tuition payments through personal email accounts,” Chung said.

Police also advise to be suspicious of emails from random senders and not to click any links or download attachments from them. Authorities also urge students to report suspicious emails to the university’s I.T. or security department, and to contact the university financial services directly to confirm payment requests.

Sandra Jordan recently shared with CTV News that she lost $3,000 to this phishing scam, after her 18-year-old daughter received an urgent email for her tuition to be paid off from what they thought was legitimate correspondence from the university.

• READ MORE: Mississauga mom bilked out of $3,000 in tuition fee scam

It was not until after she sent the money to the fraudsters that she checked UofT’s website that Jordan learned of the ongoing tuition scam.

“I’m very dedicated to my daughter’s education and that’s the reason I sent the money, because I didn’t want her to be de-enrolled from her courses,” Jordan said.

Police did not say how many students were impacted by this phishing scam.

“We know the start of the new academic term can be stressful, and fraudsters often take advantage of that,” Chung said.

Investigators are asking anyone with information to contact them or Crime Stoppers anonymously.

With files from CTV News Toronto Consumer Alert’s Pat Foran