This Urdu text is a translation that is still under review by a native-speaking counsellor. If anything is unclear, please use the English text.
Check before you trust or pay
Choose what you want to check. These checks run on your phone.
Nothing you type in these free checks leaves your phone. No tracking. These checks can warn you about danger. They can never confirm that you were admitted.
Is this institution on an official register?
Search the UK student sponsor register and the Australian CRICOS register. For the USA we link to the official school search. For Pakistan we link to Higher Education Commission (HEC) guidance on foreign degrees, which is not a list.
Other official searches
- USA: Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) school search (F-1 and M-1 student visas)
- Pakistan: Higher Education Commission (HEC) guidance on degrees from foreign institutions (not a list; may not open outside Pakistan)
- World Higher Education Database (WHED)
- Australia: CRICOS full search (courses)
- UK: full student sponsor register
- British Council: trained agent/counsellor database (training is not authorisation)
Did this email or link really come from the institution?
Paste the sender's email address or the link you were sent. We compare it with the website listed on the official register and look for common tricks.
Check a message from an agent
Paste a WhatsApp, SMS or email message. We look for common scam patterns. The text never leaves your phone.
Check before you pay
Answer a few questions about the payment you were asked to make. We do not store anything, and we never handle money.
Scam news
Headlines from other news sites about scams that affect students, with our short note on how to protect yourself.
News needs JavaScript. The guides work without it.
Help
People you can contact, and guides you can read now.
Need help now?
TaleemParakh has no human reviewers yet and no crisis service. These are public services you can contact yourself. Please also talk to someone you trust today.
- Emergency in Pakistan: Rescue 1122 (emergency services), Police 15. If you are thinking about hurting yourself or ending your life, call Rescue 1122 now, or go to the nearest hospital emergency department, or ask someone near you to take you. You can also tell an adult who is with you. You matter. You do not have to face this alone.
- Feeling low or overwhelmed: Taskeen 0316 8275336 (free, Monday to Saturday, 11 am to 11 pm). Rozan Counseling Helpline 0800‑22‑444 (free, Monday to Friday, 9:30 am to 5 pm; in Ramadan 9:30 am to 3 pm). These are daytime lines, and Taskeen is not an emergency line.
- Online fraud, fake messages or hacked accounts: National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) helpline 1799, or complaint.nccia.gov.pk.
- Fraud calls or SMS: report the number to your mobile company first, then to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on 0800‑55055 or complaint.pta.gov.pk.
- Money sent from a Pakistani bank or wallet: call your bank's helpline at once and ask them to stop the transfer. If the bank does not solve it, complain to the Banking Mohtasib (free).
- In trouble abroad: the nearest Pakistani embassy, or the Foreign Office Crisis Management Unit, +92 51 9207887 (a Foreign Office advisory of March 2026 described it as working 24 hours).
- Human rights legal advice: Ministry of Human Rights 1099 (free, weekdays 8:30 am to 9 pm).
Contacts checked on 13 October 2026.
Guides
Longer, plain-language guides. Each one gives a short answer first, then the steps and the official sources.
- Check a UK university on the sponsor register
- Check an Australian provider on CRICOS
- Check a US school and your I-20
- Check a German university
- Open a German blocked account safely
- Studying medicine abroad: check the PMDC rules
- Is my offer letter, CAS or CoE real?
- Education agent warning signs
- Pay fees and rent safely
- Scholarship fee scams
- I already paid a scammer or fake agent: what to do now
- What HEC recognition really means
- Fake calls from UKVI, FIA or the police
- Someone is threatening to share my photos or video
- Save TaleemParakh to your home screen
- All guides
Know the common scams
Read the 8 most common tricks
1. "Guaranteed admission" or "guaranteed visa"
Only the university decides admission and only the embassy or immigration authority decides a visa. Anyone who guarantees either is lying or planning to use false documents, which can lead to a visa ban.
2. Fake offer letters, CAS, CoE or I-20
A document can look perfect and still be forged. Software cannot make a document genuine. Log in to the official applicant portal yourself, or contact the admissions office using details from the university's own website.
3. Paying into the wrong account
Scammers send "updated bank details" or ask for payment to a personal account, JazzCash/Easypaisa, hawala, crypto or gift cards. Universities take fees through their own portal, their own bank account, or an official payment service linked from their own website (for example Flywire or Convera). Check the beneficiary name and country every time.
4. Lookalike emails and websites
oxford-admissions.com, rnonash.edu and admissions.university@gmail.com are not university addresses. Type the website address yourself. Use the "Email / link" check.
5. "Don't tell anyone" and "decide today"
Secrecy and pressure are the two strongest warning signs. Real deadlines are published on the university website. A genuine adviser is happy for your family or teacher to check.
6. Agent "authorisation"
A British Council training certificate means a counsellor completed a course; it does not mean a university authorised them. Ask the university directly whether the agent is its representative.
7. Your passwords and one-time passwords (OTPs)
Never give your portal password, email password or one-time codes to an agent. With them, someone can withdraw your application or accept an offer in your name.
Before selling land, gold or a house
Stop. Confirm admission and the exact fee amount directly with the university first. Talk to someone you trust. No legitimate deadline requires selling property within hours.
۱۔ "یقینی داخلہ" یا "یقینی ویزا"
داخلے کا فیصلہ صرف یونیورسٹی اور ویزا کا فیصلہ صرف سفارت خانہ یا امیگریشن ادارہ کرتا ہے۔ جو کوئی ان میں سے کسی کی ضمانت دے، وہ جھوٹ بول رہا ہے یا جعلی دستاویزات استعمال کرنا چاہتا ہے، جس سے ویزا پر پابندی لگ سکتی ہے۔
۲۔ جعلی آفر لیٹر، CAS، CoE یا I-20
دستاویز بالکل اصلی نظر آ کر بھی جعلی ہو سکتی ہے۔ کوئی سافٹ ویئر کسی دستاویز کو اصلی نہیں بنا سکتا۔ سرکاری پورٹل میں خود لاگ اِن کریں یا یونیورسٹی کی اپنی ویب سائٹ پر دیے گئے رابطے سے داخلہ دفتر سے بات کریں۔
۳۔ غلط اکاؤنٹ میں ادائیگی
دھوکے باز "نئی بینک تفصیل" بھیجتے ہیں یا ذاتی اکاؤنٹ، جاز کیش/ایزی پیسہ، حوالہ، ہنڈی، کرپٹو یا گفٹ کارڈ سے ادائیگی مانگتے ہیں۔ یونیورسٹیاں فیس اپنے پورٹل، اپنے بینک اکاؤنٹ، یا اپنی ویب سائٹ پر دی گئی سرکاری ادائیگی سروس (مثلاً Flywire یا Convera) کے ذریعے لیتی ہیں۔ ہر بار وصول کنندہ کا نام اور ملک دیکھیں۔
۴۔ ملتی جلتی ای میلز اور ویب سائٹس
oxford-admissions.com، rnonash.edu اور admissions.university@gmail.com یونیورسٹی کے پتے نہیں ہیں۔ ویب سائٹ کا پتہ خود لکھیں۔ "ای میل / لنک" جانچ استعمال کریں۔
۵۔ "کسی کو نہ بتانا" اور "آج ہی فیصلہ کرو"
راز داری اور دباؤ سب سے بڑی خطرے کی علامات ہیں۔ اصلی آخری تاریخیں یونیورسٹی کی ویب سائٹ پر ہوتی ہیں۔ ایماندار مشیر خوشی سے آپ کے خاندان یا استاد کو جانچنے دیتا ہے۔
۶۔ ایجنٹ کی "اجازت"
برٹش کونسل کا تربیتی سرٹیفکیٹ صرف یہ بتاتا ہے کہ کنسلٹنٹ نے کورس کیا ہے؛ اس کا مطلب یہ نہیں کہ یونیورسٹی نے اسے نمائندہ بنایا ہے۔ یونیورسٹی سے براہِ راست پوچھیں کہ کیا ایجنٹ اس کا نمائندہ ہے۔
۷۔ آپ کے پاس ورڈ اور ایک بار کے پاس ورڈ (OTP)
اپنا پورٹل پاس ورڈ، ای میل پاس ورڈ یا OTP کوڈ کبھی ایجنٹ کو نہ دیں۔ ان سے کوئی آپ کے نام پر درخواست واپس لے سکتا ہے یا آفر قبول کر سکتا ہے۔
زمین، سونا یا گھر بیچنے سے پہلے
رکیں۔ پہلے یونیورسٹی سے براہِ راست داخلے اور فیس کی صحیح رقم کی تصدیق کریں۔ کسی قابلِ اعتماد شخص سے بات کریں۔ کوئی اصلی آخری تاریخ چند گھنٹوں میں جائیداد بیچنے کا تقاضا نہیں کرتی۔
About TaleemParakh
TaleemParakh is a free student-protection project for Pakistani students applying abroad. No student pays for safety checks. We do not sell data, rankings, badges or agent listings, and we take no commission from anyone.
In memory of Laiba
This page is for Laiba, a bright young graduate in Pakistan who dreamed of studying abroad. We do not want any other student, or any parent, to go through this pain. If this page is hard to read, or you are in pain yourself, the help numbers are right below.
Help you can contact
If you are having thoughts of ending your life, or of not wanting to live, please do not keep it to yourself. Talk to someone today.
Painful feelings can change, and talking to someone does help. Many people who felt this way found support and felt better.
These public services are run by other organisations. TaleemParakh has no crisis service of its own.
- In danger right now: call Rescue 1122 (emergency services), or go to the nearest hospital emergency department, or ask someone near you to take you.
- To talk to someone about how you feel: Taskeen, 0316 8275336. Free. Monday to Saturday, 11 am to 11 pm. It is not an emergency line.
- Rozan Counseling Helpline: 0800‑22‑444. Free to call. Monday to Friday, 9:30 am to 5 pm (9:30 am to 3 pm in Ramadan).
- To report a scam: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) helpline 1991.
- To report a scam online, use the FIA complaint form: complaint.fia.gov.pk
Taskeen and Rozan keep set hours. Outside those hours, if you are in danger, call Rescue 1122, or go to the nearest hospital emergency department, or ask someone near you to take you.
If you are abroad and in danger, call the local emergency number of the country you are in.
To report the scam to the FIA from abroad, call the FIA overseas number: +92 51 111 345 786.
Contacts checked on 14 October 2026.
Laiba's story
Laiba was a bright young graduate who dreamed of studying abroad.
According to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), people pretending to be officials promised her a place at a university abroad and a scholarship. The FIA says the papers were fake. It was a fake study-abroad admission and scholarship scam. It took her family's savings.
The FIA has registered a case. The matter is now being adjudicated by the courts, so we do not comment on it.
Laiba is no longer with us.
What we want every student to know
- Being scammed is never your fault. Scammers are practised at this, and they fool smart, careful people.
- Losing money is painful, but it is not your worth. There are people who can help you take the next step.
- You are not alone. Tell someone you trust today: a parent, an older brother or sister, a teacher or a friend.
- Parents: if your child tells you they were scammed, thank them for telling you. Stay calm, stay close, and do not blame them.
Check before you pay
Stop before you pay anyone. Pressure to pay quickly is a warning sign. These free checks run on your own device:
- Check an agent's message
- Think through a payment before you make it
- Read the warning signs of a fake agent or consultant
TaleemParakh exists in Laiba's memory. It is free for every student, always.
One step for today
If something about an offer feels wrong, pause the payment today and show the message to an adult you trust. If you have already paid, read this guide: What to do if you have already paid
Who runs this
TaleemParakh is a student-protection project from Pakistan. It was started, and is run, by its founder, Saad Mirza. It is not yet a registered organisation. There are no human reviewers yet and no crisis service, so nobody here can look at your case.
Contact and corrections: email us. Please do not send personal documents or anyone's private details by email. contact@taleemparakh.org
What this site does today
- Searches official public registers (UK student sponsors, Australian CRICOS), with the source edition date shown on every result. A listing means only what the register says it means.
- Checks email addresses and links for lookalike and free-email tricks.
- Scans agent messages for common scam patterns.
- Helps you think through a payment before you make it.
What this site does not do
- It does not confirm admission, scholarships, visas or agent authority. Only the institution can.
- It does not contact universities on your behalf.
- It does not accuse any person or agent. A warning sign is a reason to check, not proof of fraud.
- It has no human reviewers yet and no crisis service.
Privacy
Nothing you type leaves your device. The only network requests go to this same site: the app, the guide pages (a few are saved for offline use when you first visit) and the public register file. The site is hosted on GitHub Pages, which records visitor IP addresses in its server logs, as any web host does. There are no cookies and no analytics. Your language and last tab are remembered in your browser's local storage, and the site saves a copy of itself on your device so it can work offline. Links to official websites open those sites, which have their own rules.
Method and sources
The checks are fixed rules, not artificial intelligence: the same input always gives the same result. Every result shows its source and date. Register files come only from the documented open-data endpoints of the UK government (gov.uk content API) and the Australian government (data.gov.au). Each edition is recorded with its address, SHA-256 fingerprint and fetch time, and a very large change stops the update from being published.
UK data: Open Government Licence v3.0. Australian data: CC BY 2.5 AU, Department of Education.
Safe next steps
- Find the institution's website yourself (search engine or official register), not from the agent's link.
- Log into the official applicant portal yourself. Never share your password or one-time password (OTP).
- Email or call the admissions office using contact details from the official website and ask them to confirm.
- Pay only through the official portal or bank details shown on the institution's own website.
- Talk to a parent, teacher or trusted person before paying or selling anything.