About 15 students in Nigeria have been sent fraudulent degree offer letters purporting to be from Liverpool Hope University. Applicants were asked for non-refundable acceptance fees.
It only came to light when several students, who had paid their fees but not heard anything more about their places, got in touch with the university.
Applications for university programmes are made through UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service). In some countries universities use official agents, but prospective students should contact the university directly to find out who the officially appointed agents are.
As for the scammers - tread softly, for you tread upon our dreams.