Stay alert: these current email and extortion scams are targeting uni students
We have been warned that uni students in both Australia and New Zealand are being targeted by scammers via phishing and extortion attempts. These scams are designed to steal personal data and/or extort large sums of money from students and their families.
While we aim to block and monitor malicious content as far as possible, please remain aware of these tactics, as scammers pose a constant online threat and their methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
⚠️ BEWARE: Current phishing scam ⚠️
We have been advised that scammers are compromising email accounts belonging to university staff and then using those accounts to send malicious emails to the staff member’s contact lists, including students.
This activity is occurring during the start-of-semester period, when email volumes are high and scams are harder to spot.
These emails often look like they come from a legitimate Deakin email account, so you must exercise caution!
How do I recognise these scams?
Be alert to emails that:
- Use subject lines such as ‘IMPORTANT UPDATE’ or ‘[Name] has shared a file with you’.
- Include links to ‘attachments’ or file shares hosted on legitimate platforms (e.g. common file-sharing services) to appear trustworthy.
- Ask you to log in, enter credentials, approve a sign-in, or follow a link to ‘view a document’.
- Ask you to install software or ‘remote support’ tools.
What you must do to protect yourself from this scam
- Stop and verify unexpected requests via email or another channel, even if it appears to come from someone you know.
- Do not click links or enter credentials from unsolicited or unexpected emails.
- Immediately report suspicious emails to Deakin’s cybersecurity team via the ‘Phish Alert’ button in your Outlook window. If you’re not using your Deakin email address in Outlook, forward the email to spam@deakin.edu.au.
- Ensure multi-factor authentication (MFA) is enabled on your account.
- If you think you’ve clicked a link, entered credentials, or approved a sign-in: change your password immediately and contact IT Help.
⚠️ BEWARE: Contract cheating extortion attempts⚠️
We are also aware of a financially-driven extortion campaign targeting English-speaking uni students, including Australian students, who engage with contract cheating services.
What’s happening
Organised groups are impersonating tutoring, proctoring, and “assignment‑help” services to access university accounts and extort students for money. These scams are currently active across Australia, the U.S., and Canada.
Why this is serious
This activity commonly escalates to extortion (blackmail): criminals leverage screenshots, access logs, and recordings to coerce further payments under threat of academic reporting. Compromised accounts may also expose personal information, assignments, and email, and in some cases financial aid or payroll (for student employees). In addition, compromised accounts can be misused to target other members of the university community.
How do I recognise these scams?
- After students gain access to contract cheating services, which are framed as ‘study help’, scammers will collect information – such as recording personally identifiable information and conversations – as proof of misconduct to enable extortion of the victim.
- The scammer then threatens to expose the student, using gathered screenshots, recordings and threatening tactics to pressure the student into paying an additional fee, often significantly higher than the initial contract fee.
What you must do to protect yourself from this scam
- Do not engage with contract cheating services! This constitutes a breach of academic integrity and can compromise your future at both uni and later in your career.
- Educate yourself about academic integrity at Deakin to keep yourself safe.
- Don’t fall into the trap of seeking illegitimate study help – there are plenty of ways to seek help the right way at Deakin, including via our Study Support services.
Do you need support?
If you’ve got a question or IT issue, contact IT Help or Student Central for general advice.