On November 6, students received an email titled “Request to Confirm Tuition Payment Details for the Second Semester of 2025” from the Student Records Team. However, some students had difficulty understanding the content of the email, whereas others even raised concerns that it might secretly be a phishing email requesting for personal information.
Email Sent Regarding Tuition Transfer Errors
During the tuition payment process for the second semester of the 2025 academic year, various cases occurred where students transferred tuition fees to the incorrect virtual bank accounts. In response, the Students Records Team sent a notice on November 6 requesting for confirmation of the tuition payment transfers. However, because a phishing email requesting for personal information had circulated earlier on April 18, some students suspected that this notice email might also be a phishing attempt. In response, GIST News has interviewed the Student Records Team and confirmed that the email was an official notice, completely unrelated to external hacking or phishing attempts. Additionally, the root cause of such confusion lies in the structure of the tuition payment system.
GIST’s Tuition Payment System
Each semester, GIST issues a unique virtual bank account to each student through Woori Bank. However, for students who do not pay tuition within the initial deadline, second, third, and fourth payment periods are provided, where a new virtual account number is issued for each payment round. Moreover, virtual account numbers that expire after the first payment period may be reassigned to other students in later payment rounds by the bank’s system. As a result, if a student accidently transfers tuition using an expired first-round virtual account during a different payment period, the payment may appear as if it were deposited under the reassigned student’s name. This has led to cases where tuition paid by Student A was recorded as if it belonged to Student B.
“This is an Official Notice, Unrelated to Phishing”, Student Records Team
The Student Records Team has stated that this type of tuition transfer error occurred for the first time this semester. They also explained why it is difficult to identify the actual payer using only bank transfer records. Although there are no issues when the student correctly enters their own student ID number and name, identification becomes difficult in cases such as: when tuition is paid under a parent’s name, when there are multiple individuals with the same name, or when the sender’s name is entered inaccurately or unclearly.
For these reasons, the team has requested transfer receipts from a small number of cases where payment could not be clearly verified. All such cases have now been resolved. In response to this incident, the university plans to convene the Tuition Deliberation Committee to review potential improvements to the payment system. Discussions are expected to include restructuring the virtual account reassignment process, improving verification of the sender’s information, and revising how account information is provided to students paying after the first payment round.
Preventing Future Payment Issues
A representative from the Student Records Team has stated, “We sincerely apologize for the confusion caused to students.” They also advised students to make tuition payments within the designated deadlines and asked that, if parents or guardians are paying on a student’s behalf, they ensure that the student’s name and student ID number are entered accurately.
Translated by Yoonseo Huh