BEIJING?-- Chinese students planning on studying in France should be alert to fake university websites, read a circular issued by the Ministry of Education (MOE) Monday.

Self-proclaimed official websites of some French universities were recently found to be fake and suspected of fraud.

The MOE thus suggested Chinese students go through the official ministry website, where the authentic URLs of 370 French universities are listed.

Students looking to study abroad should also be alert to all types of illegal intermediary agencies and get information via regulated channels instead, said an MOE official.