Officials at Cape Breton University suspect online scammers are capitalizing on the school's name in a bid to collect admission fees from unsuspecting students.

Someone has created a website for "Cape Breton International University," claiming to have a campus on the island.

But information on the website is false and the photos are of a campus in England. The mailing address doesn't exist and the phone numbers don't work. The only way to contact the site is by e-mail.

CBU learned of the site when international students began making inquiries about Cape Breton International University.

Arlene Mullen, director of admissions at CBU, informed a professor at Wolverhampton University in England that his photo was on the site.

"He doesn't have any contact with them," Mullen said. "He also let me know that he had alerted the IT and legal people at his university and they were following it up."

Mullen fears prospective students will lose money by paying for courses through the site and that CBU's reputation will be tarnished.

CBU's technical department has traced the site to a server in the Ascension Islands. The university's director of recruitment, Shea MacInnis, said both CBU and Wolverhampton are investigating.

"We're still in the process of reviewing with the local police department to see what their concerns are and whether there is anything they can do," MacInnis said.

When it comes to the internet, MacInnis added, the message is buyer beware, even if it's for an education.