Bitdefender has warned that school-related scams seen in the United States are also affecting families across Asia-Pacific, using education costs and digital study tools as bait.
Researchers at Bitdefender Labs identified SMS and email campaigns aimed at students, parents and teachers. The messages promote fake education grants, scholarships, free laptops, discounted artificial intelligence subscriptions and false delivery notifications.
The warning highlights how scammers are adapting old techniques to current household spending patterns. Education has become a useful theme as families buy more devices and supplies online and rely more on digital services for study.
The examples were not limited to the US. Bitdefender has seen fake government aid programmes in Malaysia offering free laptops and financial help to students, while campaigns in India have included bogus scholarship exams, AI education promotions and scholarship giveaways.
AI themes
One of the clearest trends involved fraudulent offers linked to generative AI products. Bitdefender's antispam telemetry detected campaigns advertising what appeared to be discounted premium AI subscriptions, along with messages promoting "ChatGPT Plus for students", free AI subscriptions, premium student accounts, AI study assistants and AI homework tools.
These messages aim to exploit the rapid uptake of AI by students for research, writing, note-taking and coding. Not every email promoting an AI product is malicious, but scammers, spammers and affiliate marketers are increasingly using the topic.
Financial pressure
Bitdefender also highlighted scams tied to the rising cost of education. Some of the largest SMS campaigns seen in the US promised recipients between USD $6,500 and nearly USD $8,000 in supposed education grants, often claiming the funds would not need to be repaid and would vanish unless the recipient acted quickly.
Other messages offered free laptops and directed victims to phishing sites or pages requesting personal information under the pretence of checking eligibility. The details vary by country, but the method is broadly the same: identify an urgent household need, promise relief and push the target towards a fraudulent link.
Parcel lures
Another recurring tactic centres on online shopping for school supplies and devices. Researchers continue to see seasonal increases in fake delivery messages claiming there is a problem with an order or parcel.
These texts and emails may ask recipients to verify shipping information, pay a small delivery charge, confirm account details or click through to a tracking page. Instead, the links can lead to phishing websites designed to steal passwords, payment details and other personal information.
That risk is relevant in Australia and elsewhere in the region whenever families buy laptops, uniforms, textbooks and stationery online. Criminals often time such messages to periods when consumers are already expecting genuine updates from retailers and couriers.
Warning signs
Bitdefender urged students and families to be cautious about unexpected offers for grants, scholarships or other financial support they never applied for. Urgent claims that money, discounts or benefits will expire within hours or days are another sign that a message may be fraudulent.
The researchers also flagged promises of guaranteed approval, free money or valuable devices without a real application process. Consumers should be wary of unfamiliar or shortened links instead of official government, university, school, retailer or technology provider websites, and should treat unsolicited offers for sharply discounted premium AI tools or study subscriptions with suspicion.
Consumers are advised to avoid clicking links in unsolicited education-related messages and instead go directly to the official website of the relevant institution or provider. That can reduce the risk of handing over personal or payment information to attackers using cloned pages and misleading domain names.
The broader lesson from the recent activity is that cybercriminals do not need a new playbook for each country. They adapt familiar phishing and social-engineering methods to whatever students and families are focused on, buying or worrying about at the time.
With education costs, laptop purchases, online shopping and AI tools now embedded in student life across much of Asia-Pacific, those themes are likely to remain attractive bait for scam operators.