A scam is a criminal offence under the Fraud Act. It’s where someone tries to steal something from you, or defraud you.
Scams may happen through emails sent to you (“phishing”), by phone, (“vishing”), through social media accounts or letterbox.
Scammers will use any possible means to get your money and/or personal information.
What scams to look out for in particular as a student?
There are several common scams targeted at students:
- Tuition Fee Fraud
- ‘Fake Officials’ Phone Scam
- Student Loans Company and Tax Refund Phishing Emails
- Online tickets for gigs
- Money Mule scams
- Free Wi-Fi
- Social Media Scams
Scams can be very sophisticated often looking like they’re from legitimate companies and even to look like they came from your friends and family. But there are but there are some tell tale signs to look out for, including where,
- You’re contacted out of the blue
- They offer a deal that sounds too good to be true
- You’re asked for personal details
- You’re asked to make an immediate decision
- There are obvious grammatical or spelling mistakes
- You’re asked to keep something secret, and / or
- There are no contact details are given to you or, at best, just a mobile phone number or PO Box address.
The UK Council for International Students has also highlighted that International Students may be targetted and can be more vulnerable. Read more here
Tuition Fee Fraud
There are several ongoing fraud and money-laundering schemes which target international students.
Fraudsters are connecting with students face to face or via social media offering significant discounts and exceptional currency exchange rates when paying for tuition fees.
Students should be highly cautious of unsolicited offers – they are extremely likely to be illegal which could result in students being found guilty of facilitating money laundering as well as loosing money.
Students are strongly advised to read and share the guidance from the Police’s Dedicated Card & Payment Crime Unit. Tuition Fee Scam Leaflet
Fake Officials Phone Scam
A common form of fraud is phone call scams whereby students are contacted by fraudsters pretending to be from the UK Tax office (HMRC), the Home Office, University senior management, or other government agencies.
The fraudsters state there are urgent issues with your bank account, tax affairs or VISA status, and try to get you to transfer funds to a ‘safe’ bank account to prevent losses. Some threaten imminent arrest and deportation unless an immediate transfer is made to cover tax payments owed or a fine relating to a visa irregularity.
It is important to know that official UK agencies never demand immediate payment, will never ask for bank details and will never ask for copies of official documents such as a passport or visa.
If you are contacted by any agency who says you must act immediately – you should ask them for their name and what department they work in, hang up and contact the organisation using a contact number on the organisation’s official website.
More information from the University about Phishing and Fraud, see
What to do
If you receive a scam via any method you should report it – see Link . The report email function in the University email system notifies both the University’s IT Team, but also notifies international email system providers.
If you suspect a fraud of scam has been sent to your private email – most email providers have a report scams function to use
You can also report the email to Action Fraud – Link
Support at the University
Student Support can offer advice and support if you do find yourself in financial hardship as the result of a scam, including how to apply to the University Financial Support fund or how to get a short-term loan.The Student Support Team may be able to help if you if you have been the victim of a scam, as well as with any other welfare or wellbeing issue.
Student Support can be contacted through the Support and Information Zone staff by email, help@chi.ac.uk by telephone (01243 816222) or at the service desks in the learning Resource Centres on each campus.
Further advice
It is far better to spend some time becoming aware, than regret it when having to deal with an avoidable fraud!
It is good to read and review guidance about common phishing attacks aimed at students, as well as guidance on how to identify phishing scams and what to do if you’ve followed a link within a suspected phish.
The Get Safe Online website (Link) has general advice about staying safe online and information about telephone and other types of scams.
Money Helper (Link) also has further information about telephone scams.
Follow the IT and cyber security best practices to help you stay safe online – see for example.
Enquiries
If you have any questions, please contact us.
Student Support and Information Zone
Email: help@chi.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1243 816222