As the January student finance instalment approaches, the Student
Loans Company (SLC) is issuing a reminder to all students to be
vigilant against scams as they await the next payment of their
maintenance loans.
Scammers will try to trick students into giving away personal and
financial information by sending fake emails (phishing) and texts
(smishing), or calling and pretending to be from SLC, Student
Finance England (SFE), or other legitimate organisations, ahead
of the January payment dates.
SLC will never ask students to provide their personal or
financial information via email or text message. If a student
receives a suspicious message, they should email it to report@phishing.gov.uk and
if they think have been a victim of a scam, please contact SLC’s
specialist team on 0300 100 0059.
SLC is also alerting students to a current scam. This is an email
that claims to be from ‘SLC Investigations’ telling students to
expect a call from a private number to verify payment details.
The email is being sent from an @outlook.com address and is not
an official SLC email. SLC will never proactively contact
students to verify bank details ahead of a payment date.
Alan Balanowski, Risk Director at Student Loans Company, said:
“With the sophistication of scams increasing, students need to be
vigilant. For students who started study in the autumn, we are
reminding them to stay alert to any unusual or suspicious
communication about their next payment. And for those starting
their courses in January, this may be the first time they have
had any kind of payment from SLC, so it’s important that they are
aware of what to look out for.
“To all students, please consider the content of any
communication you receive and work with us to identify and
respond to threats. Remember that we would never ask you to
provide financial information via email or text, or initiate
contact with you via social media. If in doubt, check our
website, visit our social media channels or get in touch.”
Alan has also shared SLC’s top tips on how to spot and stop a
scam.
- Check the quality of the communication - misspelling, poor
punctuation and bad grammar are often tell-tale signs of
phishing.
- Keep an eye out for any emails, phone calls or SMS messages
you think are suspicious, especially around the time you’re
expecting a payment.
- You can also forward any suspicious texts to 7726 which will
alert phone providers to the scam. More information can be found
here - https://www.gov.uk/report-suspicious-emails-websites-phishing
- Scam emails and text messages are often sent in bulk to many
people at the same time and are unlikely to contain both your
first and last name. These commonly start - ‘Dear Student’ - so
be on guard if you see one like this.
- Messages that convey a sense of urgency are also unlikely to
be genuine – for example ‘failure to respond in 24 hours will
result in your account being closed’.
- Think before you click. If you receive an email or SMS that
contains a link that you’re not sure of, then hover over it to
check that it goes where it’s supposed to. If you’re still in any
doubt don’t risk it, always go direct to the source rather than
clicking on a potentially dangerous link.
- Pay close attention to the sender information in emails and
text messages.
- Scammers can use a variety of methods to try and get you to
pay money or share personal details, including the use of
fraudulent phone calls, social posts and direct messaging on
digital platforms. If you are suspicious of being contacted,
always use official phone numbers, your online account and
official communication channels to verify the contact you
received is genuine.
- Students should also be mindful of the information that they
share about themselves on social media, and elsewhere online, to
help guard against identity theft. Identity theft happens when
fraudsters access information about a person’s identity, such as
their name, date of birth, customer reference number, course
information or their current or previous addresses to impersonate
them online and over the phone.
- Check out our guide to identifying a scam at www.gov.uk/guidance/phishing-scams-how-you-can-avoid-them
SLC also has a range of methods to protect students, including
sending an SMS to customers in England if a change has been made
to their bank details. If a customer hasn’t changed their details
but receives a message, they should log into their online account
to review their information.
Student Finance England (SFE) does not provide any services
through WhatsApp and will never initiate contact with a student
through social media channels to discuss their application or
student finance entitlement. If a customer receives a
communication from SFE that they are unsure of, they should log
into their online account to verify if it’s genuine.
There is also a range of additional advice and information on
recognising and avoiding scams from Action
Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and
cybercrime.
