Students can be key targets for fraud and scams, especially if you're living away from home and in a new country. It can be difficult to figure out what is legitimate and what is suspicious, as well as learning how to protect yourself in a new environment.
This page provides a brief guide on fraud, scams, how to stay safe and what to do if you’re a victim.
What is fraud?
Fraud is suspicious activity that you didn't know about and didn't authorise on personal accounts such as your money, banking, governmnet or social accounts.
Examples of fraud include:
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unauthorised use of your credit or debit card
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someone accesses your bank account without you knowing
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identity theft – someone using your details to open accounts in your name e.g., banks, benefits or solicitors
Protecting yourself from fraud
You can protect yourself from fraudsters stealing your identity and bank details, by keeping your personal information safe online and in-person.
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Create different passwords for websites and make them difficult to guess. Use a mixture of letters and numbers, including capital letters and punctuation
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Only use secure websites: check the web address starts with https:// and that there is a padlock symbol in the address bar next to it
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Use an antivirus software, and ensure it is updated
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Try to keep your social media profiles on private and avoiding sharing too many personal details
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Shred paper documents and safely dispose of documents that have personally identifiable information.
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These include bank statements, old bank cards statements, bills and letters of employment with your National Insurance number
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Use a micro-cut shredder to shred documents into fine pieces, and dispose of these documents safely so they cannot be read by fraudsters
What is a scam?
A scam is where people (scammers) try to steal money, personal information or data from you, and you provide them with access yourself. This happens because scams can be very convincing and persuade people to make decisions under pressure and with time-limits.
Generally, scams convince people to transfer money to another account (e.g. a 'safe account'), invest in fake businesses or scheme to make money, purchase suspiciously good deals, buy concert tickets or sometimes even transfer money to a scammer who befriends you or strikes up a romance online.
Common Student Scams
Students are often targeted by scammers, and especially for overseas students. Look out for these common scams to be aware of when it may happen to you.
University Fees
This is one of the most common student scams. Scammers convince you that you need to make a payment surrounding tuition fees or any other money that should be paid to the University.
There are variations of this scam to look out for:
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People claim to be a government agency and request payment for an 'international student tariff', in some cases even threatening to revoke a student’s visa if the payment is not made.
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They may offer to pay your tuition fees on your behalf at a discounted rate, but take your payment for themselves instead.
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They may create a fake email which appears to be from the university, requesting payment for fees or informing a student of a change in bank account details to pay fees.
Housing & Accommodation
Another common scam concerns housing or accommodation fees. Scammers target students looking for housing, especially if you're searching for a place during peak seasons or towards central London where the demand increases.
Examples include:
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Fraudsters might advertise a property that belongs to someone else, or even a property that doesn’t exist at all. They may make excuses as to why the student can’t view the property but insist on rent or a deposit up front, promising to forward keys via a courier service, which then never arrive.
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They may advertise properties from prices that are too good to be true
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They may ask you to transfer money directly to them through services like Moneygram or WesternUnion, though these services are okay to use, it is difficult to trace
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They may ask for your identity documents before you’ve even met, which may be used to carry out more serious identity fraud
Government Fines
Be aware of scammers who claim to be from a government department or agency, who inform you that you have not paid a fee which you need to pay now to avoid prosecution.
This can look like being contacted via phone, email or text, warning you that if you do not pay a fine over the phone you will be arrested, have your visa cancelled or face further financial penalties. They may try to keep you on the phone and reconfirm their credentials by referencing official bodies such as the Home Office and the Royal Courts of Justice.
Common examples of fines or fees they will use are:
Technical Support
Across UK universities, there have been students who have been targeted by fake technical support impersonators claiming they have detected a fault with their laptop require access to fix the problem. Examples include:
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Scammers may convince you that a costly procedure needs to be performed to fix your hardware or pressure you into buying expensive software that you do not need.
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A key technique used by scammers is to convince you that your device requires remote access support and they will request access into your device to steal personal and sensitive information stored on our devices.
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Scammers may also try to remote access your device in order to install spyware. These are malicious software that can track your online activity or compromise the security of your files.
Protecting yourself from scams
DO
Check email addresses carefully - often emails look like they have come from a recognisable source but there is a slight variation, e.g., extra letters or numbers
Be suspicious of anything that sounds ‘too good to be true’.
Google search unknown phone numbers
Report scams to make it more difficult for them to deceive others
DON’T
agree to offers or deals immediately. Insist on receiving information via email before making any decisions, with written confirmation of anything requested; then you can do more thorough checks on who has called you, and seek legal advice before deciding.
provide any personal information, including banking details
validate whether the callers/sender’s information about you is correct
transfer any money to anyone to anyone you don’t know or trust unless or use methods of payment you’re not comfortable with.
hand over money or sign anything until you’ve checked someone’s credentials and their company’s.
For more tips on how to protect yourself from fraud and scams – read through Action Fraud's Protect Yourself article.