We believe that potentially possibly because of the work she had been doing.'

There have also been at least 19 incidents of attacks on Indian students or their property in Australia since May 9. The attacks, in Melbourne and Sydney, have caused an uproar in India.

There are about 90,000 Indians studying in Australia.

The student victims have said the incidents seemed racially motivated.

The Four Corners programme aims to 'expose a number of cases where students (coming to Australia) have lost tens of thousands of dollars', ABC Online said.

To highlight the plight of Indian students, the programme spoke to the family of student Prabmeet Singh, who had spent over $40,000 on a course at the Sydney flying school Aerospace Aviation.

His mother Pushpinder Kaur said the family was now broke and her son still did not have the pilot's licence.

'It is a fraud. We were shown so many rosy pictures about the school and it is not what it is really, it was just a scam,' Kaur was quoted as saying.

The programme also revealed unscrupulous practices by migration and education agents.

The ABC investigation followed the spate of attacks on Indian students, which also prompted the students to take out rallies to protest the muggings and assaults on them.

Authorities said that Indians were the victims of crime because they were more likely than others to be travelling late at night on public transport.

Australia has pulled in many Indian students with its offer of permanent residency for those who gain diplomas in vocational subjects.

But then, due to the economic downturn, the government in December made it more difficult for those with vocational qualifications to become permanent residents.