**Scam Campaign Report: Fraudulent Academic Research Sextortion Survey**
This scam campaign involves fraudulent communications claiming to be academic research from the University of Huddersfield in the UK. The campaign centers around the domain hud.ac.uk, which was registered in 1996 directly with Nominet, and two associated email addresses: rachel.fletcher@hud.ac.uk and k.tzanipepelasi@hud.ac.uk. These entities are interconnected through six reported relationships, all with moderate confidence levels of 0.59, indicating they have been consistently reported together across multiple incidents.
The scam specifically targets individuals who may have experienced sextortion, with perpetrators posing as PhD researcher "Rachel Fletcher" from the University of Huddersfield. Community reports show identical messaging patterns where the scammer claims to be conducting academic research about sextortion experiences. Three separate community reports, each receiving 2 upvotes, document the same fraudulent solicitation beginning with "Have you experienced Sextortion? Share your experience [Academic research]" followed by the fake researcher introduction. This suggests the campaign has had measurable consumer impact, with multiple victims recognizing and reporting the suspicious pattern.
The consistent reporting of both email addresses together with the hud.ac.uk domain indicates a coordinated effort using what appears to be the legitimate University of Huddersfield's domain infrastructure. This type of domain spoofing or compromise makes the scam particularly dangerous, as victims may trust communications that appear to originate from an established academic institution. The targeting of sextortion victims is especially predatory, as these individuals may already be in vulnerable situations and seeking help or support.
**Consumer Protection Advice:** Before responding to any unsolicited research requests, verify the legitimacy by independently contacting the claimed institution through official channels found on their verified website. Legitimate academic researchers typically use formal institutional review board protocols and would not solicit participants through unsolicited messages. If you receive suspicious communications claiming to be academic research, do not click any links, do not provide personal information, and hang up if contacted by phone. Report these incidents to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov or to the FCC for telecommunications fraud. To check if a domain or phone number has been reported as suspicious, search community fraud databases and verify institutional affiliations through official university websites.
This campaign represents a moderate threat level due to its targeting of vulnerable populations and use of apparent institutional domain infrastructure. The consistent community reporting pattern suggests ongoing activity. Consumers should exercise heightened caution with any unsolicited academic research requests, particularly those involving sensitive topics like sextortion. Educational institutions should be alerted to potential domain compromise, and continued monitoring of these entities is recommended.