Student Scams

Student Scams To Look Out For

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Student Loans Company Scams

When students start university or college the Student Loans Company (SLC) and Student Finance England (SFE) play a key role in financing their education.

However, both of these institutions are very unfamiliar for new students which gives fraudsters the chance to take advantage.

The SLC has warned that scammers claiming to be from ‘SLC Investigations’ has emailed students telling them that they should expect a call from a withheld number to verify their payment details.

In fact, the SLC never proactively contacts students to verify bank details ahead of a payment date.

This is a classic impersonation scam.

Rather than accepting a call students should  log in their online account to see if you have any messages.

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Fake tuition fee discounts

This involves a fake discount offer for students willing to pay their university tuition fees early.

The offer doesn’t exist but it allows scammers to con thousands of pounds from students.

Fraudsters pretending to be from a university will typically offer a 15% discount if students pay the money early.

This cruel scam will often leave students unable to afford the course that they have signed up to.

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Student accommodation scams

Rental fraud is a huge problem in the UK as demand for properties continues to outstrip supply.

Students are often targeted by fake landlords looking to take advantage of their desperation for good value accommodation.

Very often they will offer a discount for the rent being paid upfront as they try and take as much money from the student as possible.

Students should ignore social media adverts offering accommodation. Even if you go through a trusted platform such as Rightmove you need to make extra checks.

See our rental fraud page for advice on how to safely rent properties.

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Job scams

Many students are looking for ‘side hustles’ to earn money while they are at university or college.

Never answer random job offers that appear through social media platforms such as WhatsApp.

Very often these fake jobs involve asking students to review products and services in return for a wage.

Once you are owed money the scammer will demand funds to be paid to them to release the wages.

This can go on for weeks as scammers demand more money and the victim starts to chase their losses.

See our Fake Job Scams page for more advice.

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