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Police have warned students in the UK against using a website that they say lets users "illegally access" millions of scientific research papers.

The City of London police's Intellectual Property Crime Unit says using the website could "pose a threat" to students' personal data.

The police are concerned that users of the "Russia-based website" could have information taken and misused online.

University 'threat'

The City of London Police, which is the national lead for fraud, has warned that students studying online at home might be vulnerable.

Detective Inspector Kevin Ives said: “Students should be aware that accessing such websites is illegal, as it hosts stolen intellectual property."

He also warned that visitors to the website, whose Twitter account has been suspended, are "very vulnerable to having their credentials stolen".

Max Bruce, the City of London police's cyber protection officer, has urged universities to block the website on their networks because of the "threat posed by the website to both the university and its students".

"If you're tricked into revealing your log-in credentials, whether it's through the use of fake emails or malware, we know that the website will then use those details to compromise your university's computer network in order to steal research papers," he said.

The website has now been blocked by ÐßÐßÊÓƵ.