Frauds and Scams | MyCumbria

The Student Loans Company (SLC), will be paying more than £2 billion into students' bank accounts. Fraudsters target students with bogus emails and text messages around loan payment dates each year! Don’t be tricked into disclosing personal details or following links in emails or text messages, as these could be installing malware. Spotting a phishing email or text is not always easy, watch the short video from the SLC to help you.

SLC What is Phishing?

Check out the SLC guide to identifying a phishing scam for more advice on what to look for and what to do if you have been scammed.

Students in England and Wales should be aware that whenever their bank details are changed, you will receive a text message from Student Finance England or Student Finance Wales to confirm the change. If you have not changed your details but receive a message, you should sign into your online account to review your information. You should also get in contact using an official telephone number as you could be the victim of identity theft.

SLC will also never ask students to provide their personal or financial information via email or text message. If a student receives a suspicious message, they should report it to SLC’s Financial Crime Prevention Unit immediately by emailing FCPU_Alerts@slc.co.uk or calling the dedicated hotline on 0300 100 0059.

Neither SLC or Student Finance England (SFE) provide any services through WhatsApp and will never initiate contact with a student through social media channels to discuss their application or student finance entitlement. If a customer receives a communication from SFE that they are unsure of, they should log into their online account to verify if it’s genuine.

There is also a range of additional advice and information on recognising and avoiding scams from Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.

Money Mules

Don’t fall victim of fraud by letting someone else use your bank account to send money into. This is known as a money mule. By using money mules, criminals try to ensure that the consequences hit the mule instead of them. Money Mules are usually recruited because they get a cut of the stolen money. This means they are involved in money laundering a serious criminal offence. Read the HMRC Student Money Mule Message more informationincluding what to do if you have been approached.

Scammers use lots of other tricks to phish for your data and your money. So just take five and stop fraud!

Suspicious phone calls

The University has recently received reports from other UK universities that students are being targeted by scam callers claiming to be calling from within the university.

The scammers use names and job titles of senior finance staff members who inform the student that they are a victim of a fraud, they then try to obtain personal information.

Please be aware that the University of Cumbria Finance Team will never ask for your personal details in this way. Fake calls are made by criminals pretending to be from the university to gain money and personal information from you. If you receive an unsolicited phone call don’t feel pressured in to giving details, stop and think.

If you receive a suspicious call

Report to the Finance Team accountsreceivableteam@cumbria.ac.uk using your university email account. Please state ‘suspicious call’ in the subject heading.
Contact the Money Advice Team if you require additional support through the Student Enquiry Point
Visit Action Fraud for find out about reporting suspicious phone calls.

Find out more about impersonation fraud here.