Students Phishing Scam

New students at major universities are being targeted in a new wave of phishing emails.

17:56 22 September 2016

New students at major universities have been warned about a new wave of phishing emails. The emails, which are designed to look as if they had come from the universities’ finance department, said that students are eligible to claim a government bursary.

 

One student at Queen Mary University London was tricked out of £300. The young woman received the email bearing the logo of her university asking her for personal and banking details. By the time she realised it was a scam, the fraudster had already taken £300 from her bank account.

 

In a statement QMUL said: "We were made aware late last week that a number of QMUL students had received these phishing emails.

 

"QMUL proactively monitors its systems to prevent and detect breaches, and there is no evidence to suggest any system has been compromised in this instance.

"A message was sent to all students warning them about the scam and providing them with advice on how they can protect themselves online, including details of our cybersecurity training courses."

 

Paul Mason, the Student Loans Company director responsible for combating fraud, said: "Phishing emails are sent in batches so there will be more in circulation."

 

"We want to remind students to stay vigilant with the details they provide online.”