Campus Desk :
Students have been advised to be vigilant against fraudsters attempting to gain access to Student Loans Company (SLC) accounts over the Christmas holidays.
The SLC has warned that emails, purportedly from the organisation, generally increase over the festive period ahead of the next student loan instalment in January.
Phishing emails sent to students often ask undergraduates to update their account details; directing students to a hoax site where their details are then registered.
According to the SLC, since April 2011, over 2,700 students have had their bank details changed in an attempt to divert their student funding into a third party account.
While numbers have decreased dramatically over the past year – in 2014, 162 students had their bank accounts changed by a third party to access funds, down from 831 in 2012 – students have been encouraged to remain alert.
Heather Laing, head of counter fraud services at the Student Loans Company, said that fraudsters usually target students at the three main instalment dates.
“While the number of students falling for phishing scams is decreasing as students become more savvy to them, we monitor student loan ‘phishing’ very closely and close phishing sites down as soon as students alert us to them,” she said.
“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.”
In response to the increased threat, the SLC has urged students to be suspicious of any urgent requests for personal or financial information and say that any official correspondence comes from [email protected].
Previous examples of phishing emails include the assertion that the SLC database was being updated. Addressees were told “students that refuses (sic) to update his or her details within three days of receiving this verification email may lose or delay his or her student finance payment”. Another email suggested that the student hadn’t filled in all the necessary details to receive payment.
-The Telegraph
Students have been advised to be vigilant against fraudsters attempting to gain access to Student Loans Company (SLC) accounts over the Christmas holidays.
The SLC has warned that emails, purportedly from the organisation, generally increase over the festive period ahead of the next student loan instalment in January.
Phishing emails sent to students often ask undergraduates to update their account details; directing students to a hoax site where their details are then registered.
According to the SLC, since April 2011, over 2,700 students have had their bank details changed in an attempt to divert their student funding into a third party account.
While numbers have decreased dramatically over the past year – in 2014, 162 students had their bank accounts changed by a third party to access funds, down from 831 in 2012 – students have been encouraged to remain alert.
Heather Laing, head of counter fraud services at the Student Loans Company, said that fraudsters usually target students at the three main instalment dates.
“While the number of students falling for phishing scams is decreasing as students become more savvy to them, we monitor student loan ‘phishing’ very closely and close phishing sites down as soon as students alert us to them,” she said.
“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.”
In response to the increased threat, the SLC has urged students to be suspicious of any urgent requests for personal or financial information and say that any official correspondence comes from [email protected].
Previous examples of phishing emails include the assertion that the SLC database was being updated. Addressees were told “students that refuses (sic) to update his or her details within three days of receiving this verification email may lose or delay his or her student finance payment”. Another email suggested that the student hadn’t filled in all the necessary details to receive payment.
-The Telegraph
