Every year external event companies start promoting unofficial events on social media claiming to be our university, here’s what you can do to avoid scams and make sure you have the best time celebrating with us.
If you’re coming to Queen Mary University this September, then you will probably be excited and looking forward to Freshers’ already. Why wouldn’t you, it’s a super exciting time!
We can’t wait to meet all the new students joining us and we know that attending our Freshers’ events is one of the best ways to meet new people, get to know the university (and yourself!) and make memories for life.
As a warning – every year external event companies start promoting unofficial events on social media claiming to be our university. This isn’t the case, they are not us (as much as they wish they were). Here’s what you can do to avoid scams and make sure you have the best time celebrating with us.
Unofficial groups - what does this actually mean?
You may see pages advertising themselves as the official Queen Mary University of London but in fact, these can be business pages that use ‘Freshers’ as a way of getting your data for marketing purposes. Some get you to ‘like/join’ a group and then will totally change the event. A few of them may even get you to pay money or buy a ticket.
These are unofficial or fake Freshers’ events and as a result, we often get questions and queries from prospective students who have spent money on events that aren’t even real.
Things to look out for to spot the scams:
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No specific location for the event, just 'London'.
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Events changing name
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Generic photos of 'students' or 'clubs'
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The event owner will be a generic name such as 'Queen Mary Students', 'Student Events', 'UK Freshers' etc.
Past issues students have experienced
Unofficial events have ended up being open to anyone, not just students, they can be unsafe or illegal. Sometimes they have been cancelled without warning or have not happened at all – they have been set up as a way for a private company to make some quick cash or get student data.
In the past, students have bought tickets for events not associated with us or our venues and been added to mailing lists for phishing scams. They’ve also turned up to an event expecting to meet other students from Queen Mary, but the majority of attendees are either not students or from other universities.
How do I know if an event is official?
The top tip to remember is that Queen Mary official events will be organised by the Students’ Union and be featured on our website. This is the only place that tickets will be available – www.qmsu.org/events.
We only run one official Facebook group which you can join here - Official Queen Mary Freshers' group
All events will include our official logo and will only be promoted on our official social media profile.
Our official events line-up is now live at www.qmsu.org/events. More events are being added all the time so remember to check back regularly throughout the year. Make sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to keep up to date with the latest news and we’ll give you a shout when tickets are on sale!
A final note...
You can, of course, attend any event happening across London that you want to, you don’t have to only attend our events. BUT... our events have the best reputation (we might be biased, but they are the most fun and well attended!), have been created with you in mind and we only work with venues and partners who are completely approved in safety and security. Means you can have the best time without having to worry about it! Our events are also guaranteed to only be attended by other students from Queen Mary so it’s a great way to meet new people from your University.
If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us via su-qmsu.reception@qmul.ac.uk or drop us a DM on social media.
After the excitement of Freshers’ Week, Queen Mary Students’ Union has weekly official club nights for you to enjoy as well as other events and day trips! Keep up to date via our website and social channels too.