The student loan scam looking to dupe already anxious students

With about £2.6bn in funds paid out each September, scammers are targeting student anxiety over the loan funding process

You are about to start university and can’t wait but then you receive a worrying text message. It is a few days before the first student loan payment is due to land in your account and apparently someone has tried to alter your bank details.

“Our records indicate that your bank details on your student finance account were changed on Friday 16th. If you did not do this please contact us immediately,” says the text.

You click on the web link in the message and go to what you think is the website of the Students Loans Company (SLC), the government body that administers loans and grants. You log in to check that everything is OK, put in your bank details and the screen says: “Thanks for confirming.” But what you have done is supply this important information to criminals.

Acting quickly, the scammers then use your log-in details to access your real account and change the bank account so that your student loan payment is diverted to them.

The government is making a fresh push to raise awareness of this fraud as the new academic year starts.

This month, about £2.6bn is being paid out in maintenance support to 1.1 million students. The first of three loan payments will be deposited in the accounts of students in England and Wales. Students from Northern Ireland and Scotland get their loan instalments every month.

In the last academic year, £519,000 was lost to scammers who defrauded 168 students, according to the SLC. More than 1,100 people had their details changed but in most cases the fraud was stopped before money was lost.

What the scam looks like

Scammers are using several methods including text message, email or phone calls to target students.

The messages can claim that a payment is at risk because bank details need to be updated. Or it may say that an account has been closed unless the student acts immediately to log in to their “account” through the link provided.

The link supplied in the message leads to a clone of the SLC site and students are asked to input their details.

“It’s a race against time because the criminals then use those details to log into our genuine site to change the bank account on the genuine student account to divert the maintenance loan payment before we spot it,” said Alan Balanowski, the risk director at SLC.

Criminals know that billions of pounds will land in students’ accounts this month and have timed their approach to coordinate the fraud with a sense of urgency that people may not get their money when they need it. This is a common tactic used by criminals to get people to act in haste.

What to do

Be aware of when you could be the target of scams – September, January and April are the months when the student loan instalments are paid in England and Wales.

SLC says it won’t ask you to confirm personal or financial information by email, text or on social media. Don’t click on any links provided, instead log in to your account through the Gov.uk website.

Students are also urged to not publicise when they are getting their payment by refraining from putting it on social media.

SLC says that it does not provide services through WhatsApp and won’t initiate contact on social media. So immediately be suspicious if you are contacted in either of these ways.

Any fraudulent emails can be sent on to report@phishing.gov.uk while scam text messages can be forwarded to 7726.

If you suspect your account has been compromised, change the password immediately and contact SLC. Victims should be able to get a replacement payment so there is no financial loss to them.