How to protect yourself from scams and fraud whilst at university.

Phishing scams usually appear to be communications from legitimate organisations. Universities themselves, government agencies like HMRC, UCAS or other familiar institutions. You’ll receive an email or reach a webpage seemingly from a recognisable source and upon clicking through you’ll be asked for sensitive information like your login details, bank details or personal information. Phishing emails can be sophisticated in that their design and tone of communication feels legitimate.  

How to Avoid a Phishing Scam:  

• Double check the sender: Look at the email address or link information. Does it look normal?  
• Unnecessary urgency: If the communication you’ve received is demanding something or enforcing an immediate deadline ask yourself “why?” this can often be an indicator of whether or not an email is legitimate.  
• If in doubt, Google it. Go back to the source of your contact. If you receive a suspicious email from HMRC for example, then go and look at your previous correspondence with HMRC. Google the contents of your email or call using a number that you know to be legitimate. Remember to report suspicious phone calls, emails or texts directly to HMRC, this can be done here.  

Scholarship fraud offers fake bursaries or grants to students looking to pay for university. These particular scams are often advertised via email or social media. Scammers will target students by asking them to apply for scholarships, usually requesting a fee to apply or receive funds.  

They might also try to collect personal information such as: 

• Your name and address 
• Your bank details 
• Your passport or national insurance number 

These everyday details could be used for fraud or identity theft. The promise of large sums of money or support with finances can be tempting and tends to work because there are lots of companies and institutions which do offer legitimate scholarships and funds. Don’t be fooled – always check. 

How to Avoid a Scholarship Scam: 

• If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Is someone is offering you a large sum of money for no good reason? This should be a big red flag.  
• Did you apply for this scholarship? Scholarships and bursaries are sought out by the student. Not the other way around. If you haven’t applied for a scholarship or didn’t know you were eligible for it, then it’s likely a fake.  
• Ask your school or university. Check-in with your school or university about whether or not the scholarship is legitimate. Most universities and schools keep a record of scholarships and bursaries available to their students. They’ll be able to help you determine whether it’s legitimate or not.  

Student loan scams or student finance scams are a type of fraud that targets students who are seeking a student loan to pay for university. Fraudsters in the UK can impersonate the Student Loans Company (SLC) to get you to hand over your personal information, bank details or identifying information like a passport or driving licence. 

Less common in the UK are student loan scams that offer loans to students outside of the SLC. These might impersonate banks or other financial institutions, promising low-interest rates or other benefits.  

How to Avoid a Student Loan Scam: 

• How did you receive the information? The SLC confirmed that they will never ask students to provide their personal or financial information via email or text message. 
• Check the quality of the communication. Does your message contain grammatical or spelling errors? If it does this can be an indicator that it’s a scam. The SLC gives this advice: “If a student receives a suspicious message, they should report it immediately by emailing customer_compliance@slc.co.uk or calling our dedicated hotline on 0300 100 0059.” 
• Look out for general greetings. Official communications will almost always use your full, given name. Look out for communication that starts with “Dear Student” or “Dear Friend” or communication that has one of your usernames or email addresses in place of your name i.e., “Hello JamesP-123”. 

Student accommodation scams target students looking for a place to live. This type of fraud can be common on social media and private classified sites like Gumtree or Facebook.  

Though these platforms are legitimate and many take measures to protect users, these types of scams are still common. They might use fake pictures and accommodation listings to entice you to hand over large sums of money and personal information to secure accommodation that might not even exist.  

How to Avoid an Accommodation Scam: 

• Requests for money before you’ve seen a property. Legitimate landlords would never request a deposit from you before you’ve even seen a property.  
• Pricing seems too cheap. Properties might seem very, even suspiciously reasonable whilst being decorated to an incredibly high standard. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.  
• How they want you to pay. Watch out for landlords or agents that ask you to wire money using services like Western Union. In the UK, rent is almost always paid for via BACS or a secure portal via an agency website.  

If in doubt about accommodation you’re being offered, it’s worth asking around and checking in with someone you trust before agreeing to hand any money over. Never feel pressured to make important decisions quickly. Northumbria’s Student Union also has this useful resource to help you out when choosing where to live.