S3 Blog: Spotting Fake Payment Requests During Your Application

A real university deposit is requested after admission and paid through the school’s official portal or published payment channel. Never pay by gift card, cryptocurrency or a personal payment app. Verify any request using contact details from the school’s official website, not from the message you received.

Students waiting on admission, I-20s and deadlines are easy to rush. Scammers use urgency, copy school logos and send messages that look like real notices.

Red flags
⚠️ VERIFY PAYMENT REQUESTS Always confirm payment instructions through the university’s official website or official university contact.
• Payment to a personal bank account
• Payment through a personal payment app
• Gift cards
• Cryptocurrency
• Messages from an unofficial domain or a free email address
• Urgency without documentation: “pay now or lose your admission”
• Instructions that differ from the university portal
• A sudden change in bank details
• Requests to pay before you have an admission letter, or to pay something that is not listed in your portal
• Callers who say they are from the government and threaten you about status or fees

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program has warned students that government officials will not ask for gift cards, wire transfers, bank routing numbers or bitcoin deposits, and that the I-901 SEVIS fee is paid through the official FMJfee.com website. DHS has also said it will never ask you to pay fees by phone or email, or to transfer money to an individual.

How to verify, step by step
1. Stop. Do not pay while you are under time pressure.
2. Find the school yourself. Type the school’s website address into your browser or find it through Study in the States’ school search. Do not click links in the message.
3. Compare the payment instructions to your applicant portal.
4. Check the sender. Most U.S. universities use .edu addresses, but some legitimate schools do not. Confirm the exact domain on the school’s own site.
5. Call or email the school’s published contact (for example, admissions or the bursar) and ask whether the request is genuine.
6. Ask your DSO or admissions counselor. They will not mind.
7. Tell your consultant, if you have one, but verify with the school, not only with the consultant.
8. Keep a record of the message, the sender and any payment instructions.

If someone asks for a deposit through a personal account
That is not how a university collects deposits. This applies even if the person claims to be an agent or consultant. Stop and verify with the school.

If you already paid
• Contact your bank or payment provider immediately and ask about stopping or reversing the payment.
• Report it to the school and to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and consider a report to local police.
• Change any passwords you shared.
• If you believe your immigration documents were involved, tell your DSO.

What not to do
• Do not share your portal password, passport scan or SEVIS number with unknown parties.
• Do not “verify” using the phone number in the suspicious message.
• Do not pay a deposit to hold a spot at a second school without the school’s official confirmation of terms.
• Do not rely on caller ID. Phone numbers can be spoofed.

Bottom line
Pause, find the school’s official contact yourself, and never pay by gift card, crypto or a personal app.