Start of term means the start of scams

Fraudsters know that the start of a new academic year is a time when your bank account might have a lot of money in it from student loans or other funding. A perfect opportunity for them to try and access your money and your personal information. Read on for helpful advice about common scams affecting Queen Mary students and how to protect your money ready for the year ahead.

Telephone criminals targeting Queen Mary students

Criminals impersonating Queen Mary staff may call you, say they are with the police and instruct you to transfer funds from your bank account to keep your bank account “safe”. Queen Mary will never call you directly about your bank account or ask you to make payments to others.

These fraudsters are masters of social engineering, and may seem to know your personal details or information about you. They will be genuine and convincing and explain that your bank account is at risk and encourage you to transfer funds to someone you know and trust, or they suggest to a third-party person.

If you are contacted by anyone claiming to be from Queen Mary about an issue with your bank account, please end the call immediately, do not click any links or download software (ie screen sharing apps). You should contact your bank immediately, from the number you already have for your bank, and report any attacks to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or via their website Action Fraud.

Queen Mary WhatsApp scams

Many Queen Mary students belong to informal course WhatsApp groups. Did you know criminals can also join these and pretend to be on your course? They seem really friendly and keen to get to know you, and you’re happy to share some personal details with them, unaware that they’re socially engineering as much information about you as they can.

At the start of term they may say they have just returned from abroad and need to change money quickly, sometimes several thousand pounds. Can you help them? You believe they’re genuine and trustworthy because they’re in your WhatsApp group and you’ve become online friends, so you transfer money to them; then they disappear.

Trust your instincts and don’t be intimated:

• Do be aware of the risks or sharing personal information publicly (ie CVs on LinkedIn)
• Do not give out any personal information, or confirm that any personal information they have is correct
• Do not enter your banking PIN or use your Biometric device for any reason
• Do not make any payments or transfers the criminals are suggesting
• Do not act under pressure of time – take a moment to stop and think before sending any money to someone you do not know
• Do report your suspicions or incidents to Action Fraud, either on the Action Fraud website or (only if you are in the UK) by phoning 0300 123 2040.

Phishing, smishing and vishing

Phishing, smishing and vishing, as per the above Queen Mary examples, are well-known tactics used by criminals and refer to bogus emails, text messages and phone calls, which ask for your bank account details and passwords.

Criminals don’t only pretend to be contacting you from Queen Mary; they may claim to be from Student Finance England, the Police, the Home Office, the Inland Revenue, the Post Office or your bank – in fact any organisation which deals with finances. If you have an existing account with one of these organisations or have had recent contact with them, the texts, emails and calls you receive can seem genuine. The language used can often be very persuasive with threats of fines or sanctions if you don’t comply, but the truth is, only criminals will pressurise you to provide personal information or transfer money. Remember:

• Banks and financial institutions will never ask you to confirm your bank details, login information or personal financial information by email or text message, or ask you to transfer money to another bank account.
• The Home Office will never call and put pressure on you to pay money because fraud has been detected on your account or there’s an issue with your visa.

Here’s an example of an SFE text scam:

Check out the Student Loans Company’s Guide to identifying scams and how to avoid them.

Advice from the Student Loans Company:

• Be suspicious of any text/email requests for personal or financial information.
• Phishing emails are often sent in bulk and are unlikely to contain both your first and last name. They commonly start, ‘Dear Student’ so be on guard if you see one like this.
• Check the quality of the communication. Misspelling, poor punctuation and bad grammar are often tell-tale signs of phishing.
• ‘Failure to respond in 24 hours will result in your account being closed’ – these types of messages are designed to convey a sense of urgency to prompt a quick response.
• Think before you click. If you receive an email or text message that contains a link that you’re not sure of, try hovering over it to check 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. Contact the organisation directly to check if a request is genuine.

If you’ve responded to a phishing email, change your account password and forward the email to our security team at phishing@slc.co.uk

If you think you’ve received a communication that’s suspicious or are concerned about the safety of your account, email us at cfs@slc.co.uk

See the gov.uk webpage for more SLC advice on online safety and security.

I’ve been affected by a scam

If you’ve been affected by a scam, contact Action Fraud to report it and get advice. If you are in the UK, you can also call 0300 123 2040.

Further Advice

We offer confidential money advice to all Queen Mary students. We have detailed guidance on many different types of scams and fraud and advice about options on our Scams and Fraud webpage and there is more information on scams affecting Queen Mary students on MyQMUL news. You can find all our money guidance on our website.

The Advice and Counselling Service is open throughout the summer, so if you need advice about your finances and/or your wellbeing, please do not hesitate to contact us by logging an AskQM enquiry for a confidential 1:1 appointment. Choose ‘new enquiry’, then select from the drop-down list. See our web page for more guidance on how to contact us.