The first day is always exciting for newly enrolled university students.

However, for some students who were told their college admission notices were not authentic, the day was gloomy. Worse, they had given years of their parents' savings for a non-existent college place.

This was exactly what happened to some high school graduates who came to register at two colleges in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province, the provincial department of education revealed yesterday.

The case was first put into the spotlight last month, when some students approached Huazhong Normal University and Wuhan Water Resources Technical College with entrance enquiries.

They were told their names were not on the new student lists.

Later, an investigation by the municipal police discovered that some illegal agencies had sent out thousands of fake admission notices in the names of two colleges to students who had not passed the National College Entrance Examination this year. Many of the victims came from Northeast China's Liaoning Province and East China's Jiangsu Province.

The notices required each student to pay about 40,000 to 60,000 yuan (US$4,900 to 7,400).