STUDENTS in Wales are being warned that fraudsters will seek to steal their student finance over the festive period. The Student Loans Company is advising students to be vigilant against fraudsters sending phishing emails, aiming to access their second student finance instalments which are due to be paid in early January.
The Company is also calling for students to forward any student finance phishing emails to them, to ensure they can close them down to protect other students. Heather Laing, Head of Counter Fraud Services at the Student Loans Company, said: “Fraudsters usually target students at the three main instalment dates and we anticipate that there will be a surge in phishing emails over the festive period and around the January payment dates.
“We monitor student loan ‘phishing’ very closely and close phishing sites down as soon as students alert us to them. “Students are reminded never to post their personal details anywhere online, especially on social media sites which fraudsters often check for information. We will never request a customer to provide or confirm their bank details by email or text.”
Students should send any suspicious student finance emails to: [email protected] In the past three years, the Student Loans Company’s dedicated fraud team has prevented almost £3 million being diverted to fraudsters through monitoring student loan ‘phishing’ and closing phishing sites down as soon as they are identified.
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