Top five student frauds

The start of term is a busy time for you and your finances. Your student loan is paid into your bank account or, if you are self-funding, you might be transferring several thousand pounds to Queen Mary’s Fees Office. You probably also need to pay your first instalment of rent; maybe find a part-time job; perhaps upgrade your laptop; buy some winter clothes.

You might be surprised at how quickly your money disappears, especially if you’re a first year undergraduate who has not lived away from home before. Unfortunately, scammers are well aware of how hard it is to manage on a student budget and are particularly active during the first weeks of the new academic year.

A current scam is targeting Queen Mary students who receive a No Caller ID call. The caller, who may say they are calling from Queen Mary’s Finance Team, explains the student has been a victim of identity theft and a criminal has tried to open a bank account using the student’s fake ID and fake passport. The student is asked to tell the caller how much money they have in their current and savings bank accounts as a safety precaution, so Queen Mary can protect them from any further fraud. If this happens to you:

• Stop: Take a moment to stop and think.
• Challenge: Could it be fake? It is OK to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.  
• Protect: Hang up. Contact the QMUL Security on 020 7882 5000 or UK Police immediately on 999.

According to Action Fraud‘s most recent data, the top five frauds most reported by young people aged 11-29 are:  

Investment fraud: with a total loss of £29,509,631

Criminals will target students looking to make quick wins with available cash through cryptocurrency or schemes with a promise of high return investment. They are usually easily targeted through social media and online where many investment schemes operate. 

Fake job fraud: with a total loss of £149,719

Students looking for job opportunities can be targeted by fraudulent adverts aimed at stealing personal information or money. Students might be asked for an upfront payment for a fake consultation or extra help finding a job, but the fraudster does not deliver.

Rental fraud: with a total loss of £4,270,255

Rental fraudsters often target students looking for university accommodation. Fraudsters ask students to pay fees in advance without seeing a property first, and as a result they lose money as well as somewhere to live. 

Online shopping fraud: with a total loss of £9,199,951

Often fraudsters will create fake websites or replicate legitimate online stores to trick customers into providing their personal and financial information for a purchase that isn’t real. This can lead to those details being used for criminal activity.

Ticket fraud: with a total loss of £1,053,493

Fraudsters will use opportunities, like highly in-demand events, to target students by selling fake tickets. Students looking for cheap deals for freshers’ events can also be targets. 

Smishing, vishing, phishing

Fraudsters use a variety of ways to scam you:

• by text (smishing)
• by phone (vishing)
• by email (phishing)

Criminals are experts at impersonating people, organisations and the police. They may attend freshers’ fairs, infiltrate friendship groups including university societies, and check social media or LinkedIn accounts to gather information about individual students, prior to scamming them. They also rely on fear of authority to gain trust, and to pressure and intimidate their victims into paying them money. They can spend hours researching you for their scams, hoping you will let your guard down for just a moment.

They can pretend to be from a large organisation you are in contact with such as Student Finance England or the Home Office, and say there’s an error on your account or that fraud has been detected. They may tell you that all you have to do to rectify the issue is provide your bank details. Add some pressure: the sooner you do it, the quicker this can be resolved. Add a threat: if you don’t pay this money, you’ll be in trouble, arrested for fraud, fined or even deported from the UK.

Queen Mary’s Dr Paulo Oliva, has created a short film on how to spot smishing text messages:

If you’ve been drawn into a scam, there may be conditions attached. You might be told you can’t speak to anyone about this ‘confidential’ issue, or even you can’t leave your home. The scammers rely on your fear of authority, of doing wrong or of the consequences. In reality, it’s their way of silencing you and preventing you from reaching out for help and advice.

Fortunately, there’s lots of advice available about how you can protect your money.

Student Finance England advice

Scammers’ requests for bank details or to click on a link can appear genuine, especially if you have an account or have had recent contact with that organisation. They can also be very persuasive and put pressure on you to follow their instructions. Remember:

• The Student Loans Company or Student Finance England (SFE) will never ask you to confirm your bank details, login information or personal financial information by email, text, through WhatsApp or Instagram
• Genuine banks and financial institutions don’t send emails asking you to click on a link and confirm your bank details or to transfer money to another bank account
• If you want to check if a caller is genuine, hang up and contact the organisation directly
• Always review spelling and grammar of text messages as poor punctuation and misspelling are often signs of smishing
• Be wary of suspicious emails, calls or texts around the time of an expected payment
• Scam emails commonly start with ‘Dear Student’ rather than personal names
• Urgent messages are usually not genuine, for example ‘failure to respond in 24 hours will result in your account being closed’
• Think before you click by hovering over a link first and if in doubt do not risk selecting it
• Always use official phone numbers, the online account and official communication channels to verify the contact received is genuine
• Be mindful of information you share about yourself online, to help guard against identity theft
• Beware of text messages from SLC/SFE/SFW/SFNI/SAAS stating a change has been made to your bank details – contact your funder immediately

By far the safest response is no response at all. As a minimum stay sceptical and think before you click. If the request is important, the company or person will contact you in another way.

Queen Mary Fees/Finance Team advice

If you receive a phone call from Queen Mary Fees/Finance team which seems a bit strange, asking for your bank details, for you to transfer money, or saying your account has been compromised, trust your instincts and don’t be intimated. Instead:

• Stop: Take a moment to stop and think before you send any money
• Challenge: Could it be fake? It is OK to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.  
• Protect: Contact the QMUL Security on 020 7882 5000 or UK Police immediately on 999 and do not send any money.

Queen Mary Fees/Finance Team will never call you:

• to advise there is an issue with your bank account
• ask you to make payments to beneficiaries or;
• ask you to enter your banking PIN or use their Biometric device for any reason

For more advice about Fees/Finance team phone scams at Queen Mary and how to avoid them, see our Phone Scams blog post and; our Phone Scams podcast featuring Queen Mary’s deputy Director of Finance, Janice Trounson:

Home Office advice

The Home Office never makes calls or sends messages to say there is a problem with your visa and, if you don’t pay money to resolve the issue, you will be fined, arrested or deported from the UK.

As above, the safest response is no response. If the Home Office wants to contact you, they will choose another way.

Further information

Our  Protect your money from scams and fraud web page page is regularly updated and has lots of useful advice about organisations you can contact for support.

Contact us

We offer confidential money advice to all Queen Mary students. You can find our money guidance on our website. Contact a Welfare Adviser or book an appointment using our contact form.