Facebook groups for Egyptian students studying in Russia are buzzing as members ask each other how to transfer money into the country. Since Russian banks were banned from the international SWIFT network, thousands of Egyptian students have been cut off financially from their families and questionable networks are springing up with offers to help transfer money into Russia.

On Feb. 26, Western countries cut off Russia from the SWIFT network in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Thousands of Egyptian and other Arab students have been left unable to receive money from their families back home. According to the Russian ambassador to Egypt, there are more than 12,400 Egyptian students currently studying in Russia.

Islam Nour is a medical student in Cheboksary, the capital city of Chuvash Republic, which is part of the Russian Federation. He told Al-Monitor that his family in Beni Suef province has been trying for more than a week to send him $3,600 in tuition in addition to a personal allowance.

Nour said, “They went to Western Union, where they were told they can no longer transfer money to Russia. They reached out to the central bank’s complaints department, but the bank clerk told them that they cannot help them.”