Western Sydney University (WSU) appears to have suffered another major data breach after mass emails were sent from university addresses to students and alumni — some falsely claiming recipients’ degrees had been “revoked”.
A university spokeswoman told news.com.au the emails were fraudulent. “These emails are not legitimate and were not issued by the university. We are reaching out to inform people that the email is fraudulent and have informed NSW Police.”
“As this is part of an ongoing police investigation, we are unable to provide further comment at this time. We sincerely apologise for any concern this may have caused.”
NSW Police said they currently “do not have any information” about the emails.
The messages, which flooded social media sites including Reddit and X on Monday, were sent from official WSU email accounts and addressed recipients by name and student number.
One email from a sender labelled “no-reply” falsely claimed the recipient had been permanently excluded from the university and ordered to hand in original documents.
Another email, sent from “parking.permits”, appeared to outline security flaws at the university, alleging past breaches and failures to protect sensitive student data. It referenced incidents including a student exploiting a flaw in the parking permit system and a previous cyber attack in August 2024 that exposed personal information on the dark web.
It is reported that WSU has roughly 50,000 students, and it remains unclear how many people received the recent emails or whether other sensitive information was accessed.
The university was targeted earlier this year in a major cyber attack, leading to the arrest of former engineering student Birdie Kingston, who allegedly accessed and altered student records and demanded cryptocurrency from the university.
The university has urged students and alumni to remain alert and take precautions to protect their personal data.
Support our Journalism
No-nonsense journalism. No paywalls. Whether you’re in Australia, the UK, Canada, the USA, or India, you can support The Australia Today by taking a paid subscription via Patreon or donating via PayPal — and help keep honest, fearless journalism alive.
