Scammers impersonate alumni to fabricate study abroad exam papers for precision fraud targeting international students

Who Gets Targeted

The victims are primarily Chinese international students preparing to study abroad, taking language exams, or undertaking specialized courses. This is especially true for those who have just arrived at overseas universities, have not yet integrated into local social circles, harbor a natural trust toward identities of alumni from the same school, and face severe anxiety under exam pressure. Some victims fear that failing exams will affect their graduation, visa extensions, or even their study abroad eligibility, leading them to blindly believe that 'internal past papers' can quickly boost their scores. Lacking the ability to identify stranger accounts online, some even choose to take calculated risks and attempt to purchase materials despite knowing potential risks exist.

骗局怎么运作

• Information gathering and identity spoofing: Fraud rings first precisely collect personal information—such as target international students' enrolled institutions, majors, preparation subjects, and contact information—through study abroad forums, WeChat groups, QQ groups, overseas social media platforms, and internal channels of study abroad agencies. They then pose as graduated 'senior alumni' from the same school and major to add friends. Their script usually goes, 'I also graduated from this major and left behind a lot of internal materials during my prep; I can share a portion of it with you for free,' using small perks first to gain trust.
• Precision script inducement: After gaining trust, fraudsters deliberately inquire about the student's exam preparation progress and whether they are worried about exam difficulty. They then toss out gimmicks such as 'internal past papers,' 'previous years' original questions,' and 'key points outlined by professors,' claiming they have channels to obtain unreleased exam question banks from the school's academic affairs office or professors, guaranteeing a hit rate of over 80% on exam questions. This precisely strikes the psychological chord of international students who are afraid of failing and want to take shortcuts.
• AI-generated simulated materials: Once an international student shows willingness to purchase, fraudsters use AI large language model tools to input the target institution's syllabus, corresponding major's syllabus, and previously public exam questions. They rapidly generate fake past paper materials that highly resemble real exam questions in format and difficulty, and also forge official seals of the school's academic affairs office, preparation notes of past students, and favorable review screenshots from other 'purchased students' to make the materials look authentic and credible.
• Script pressure to close the sale: Fraudsters price the materials anywhere from several hundred to over ten thousand yuan, continuously raising prices based on the 'scarcity' of the materials. Scripts include phrases like 'This is the latest 2026 version, only 5 copies left,' 'Prices will increase next week,' and 'Materials must not be leaked; being caught by the school will result in cancellation of exam qualifications.' At the same time, they urge victims to pay as soon as possible, refusing regular trading platforms like Taobao or Xianyu and demanding private transfers via WeChat and Alipay under the pretext of preventing data leaks.
• Disappearance or secondary fraud after receiving payment: Once the victim completes the transfer, fraudsters first send a fake material fine-tuned by AI that has a certain similarity to the real exam questions to stall the victim. Once the victim discovers the materials do not match the actual exam questions and requests a refund, they directly block and delete them. Some syndicates will also continue to induce victims to transfer money again under the pretext of 'resending more complete past papers,' 'paying to modify scores,' or 'guaranteed pass services,' carrying out secondary fraud.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 The 'alumni' who proactively add you as friends cannot provide a valid student ID, alumni association proof, identity verification with an official school email suffix, or even basic familiarity with the school's situation and major curriculum setups.
• 🚩 The exam prep materials being sold are claimed to be 'internal school past papers' or 'unreleased prediction question sets,' with prices far higher than regular market prep materials, while explicitly demanding private transfers and refusing standard transaction platforms.
• 🚩 Refusal to provide a complete preview of the materials—only allowing a look at the first few pages, requiring full payment before viewing all contents, and explicitly stipulating that materials must not be shared or screenshotted.
• 🚩 Frequent use of urgency-inducing phrases during chat conversations such as 'last few copies,' 'prices going up immediately,' and 'miss it and it's gone,' leaving victims no time to think and verify.
• 🚩 Inability to provide official source proof for the materials or prove their accuracy, dismissing queries with excuses like 'past students used them and all passed' without providing specific contact details of past students.
• 🚩 A change in attitude after payment, delaying the delivery of materials, or sending content that drastically differs from what was advertised, and rejecting refund requests with reasons such as 'no refunds under any circumstances' or 'it's your own fault for not studying hard.'

真实案例

• Case reported by Shanghai police in March 2026: A criminal syndicate posing as 'alumni of Australian and British universities' sold AI-generated 'internal past papers' targeting international students preparing for language exams and professional courses. They committed a cumulative total of 127 offenses involving 3.26 million yuan. All 23 syndicate members were arrested, with the mastermind being a former employee of an overseas study agency who had long-term contact with international students and was familiar with their exam anxiety pain points.
• Case reported by China News Service in April 2026: A female Chinese university student studying at University College London was added by a 'senior student' disguised as a graduated alumnus from the same school and major. Under the guise of purchasing '2026 latest internal past papers,' 'resending missing materials,' and 'guaranteed pass score modification services,' she was defrauded of a total of 278,000 yuan. The name and student ID photos used by the 'senior student' were completely forged, and the similarity between the AI-generated past paper materials and the actual exam questions was less than 20%.
• Case reported by HK01 media in February 2026: A criminal syndicate targeted students from Hong Kong and mainland China studying in Hong Kong by selling AI-generated 'internal exam materials of Hong Kong universities,' claiming a 90% prediction accuracy rate for exam questions. They defrauded a total of 78 students with total amounts reaching 2.1 million Hong Kong dollars. Hong Kong police arrested 15 suspects, 3 of whom had previously worked in study abroad agencies and were familiar with Hong Kong university examination systems.

Official Stance

• On March 23, 2026, the Criminal Investigation Corps of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau, in joint cooperation with the Exit-Administration Bureau, issued a study abroad fraud warning. They reported multiple recently cracked fraud syndicates that impersonated alumni to sell AI-generated 'internal past papers,' reminding Chinese students studying overseas to be alert to so-called 'internal test prep materials' sold by stranger netizens.
• On April 24, 2026, the Rule of Law Online column of China News Service, in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Security's Research Center for Combating and Governing Telecommunications Network New Crimes, issued a warning disclosing the latest modus operandi of such cases. It pointed out that fraudsters can quickly use AI tools to generate simulation materials tailored to different institutions and majors with high specificity, requiring international students to heighten their vigilance.
• On May 12, 2026, the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE) of the Ministry of Education issued an overseas study safety reminder, explicitly informing international students that exam materials for all regular institutions are published through official channels and that no such thing as 'internal past papers' exists. It reminded students not to blindly trust sales pitches from stranger netizens to avoid property losses.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Identity verification: For 'alumni' who proactively add you as friends, ask them to provide a valid student ID, alumni association membership proof, verification emails sent from the official school email address, or check and verify their identity through the alumni directory on the school's official website. Directly block those whose identities are questionable.
• ✅ Use transaction platforms: All purchases of materials must be conducted through regular trading platforms. Do not privately transfer money via WeChat or Alipay to avoid being unable to recover funds after transfer, and do not click strange links to pay.
• ✅ Obtain materials officially: Prioritize obtaining exam prep materials through the school's official website, official academic affairs office, school library, or legitimate publishing channels. Do not blindly believe in so-called 'internal past papers' or 'prediction question sets' to avoid falling into traps.
• ✅ Report promptly: If you have already fallen victim to fraud, preserve all evidence at the first instance—including chat histories, transfer records, and the scammer's contact information—and report the case to local police. At the same time, contact the consular protection department of the Chinese Embassy or Consulate locally, as well as the school's student affairs office, to report the situation and prevent more classmates from being scammed.