The University Academic year is nearing an end, and many existing students may already be searching for the next year’s accommodation. Also, once the “A” level results are out in August many younger people will be heading off to further education, whether at University or College for the first time.

Whilst these are exciting times for all involved, there can be areas where new, and existing students may be vulnerable to Scammers and Fraudsters.

Rental Fraud.
Rental fraud happens when would-be tenants are tricked into paying an upfront fee to rent a property. In reality, the property does not exist, has already been rented out, or has been rented to multiple victims at the same time. The victim loses the upfront fee they have paid and is not able to rent the property they thought they had secured with the payment. Rental fraudsters often target students looking for university accommodation.

Protect yourself. Do not send money to anyone advertising rental properties online until you are certain the advertiser is genuine.

If you need to secure accommodation in the UK from overseas, seek the help of the employer or university you are going to, or get a friend, contact or relative to check the property exists and is available.
Do not pay any money until you, or a reliable contact, has visited the property with an agent or the landlord.
Ask for copies of tenancy agreements and any safety certificates such as Gas, Electricity or HMO Licence.
Do not be pressurised into transferring large sums of money. Transfer funds to a bank account having obtained the details by contacting the landlord or agent directly after the above steps have been followed. Be sceptical if you’re asked to transfer any money via a money transfer service like Western Union.
Other current scams existing and potential students need to be aware include:

HMRC Scams

In previous years Students taking part time jobs have been at increasing risk from fake messages claiming to be from HMRC, often offering tax refunds.

Basically, these are phishing messages to glean personal and financial details off the victim.

HMRC will only ever contact customers who are due a tax refund in writing by post. They do not use telephone calls, emails or external companies in these circumstances. Anyone who receives an email claiming to be from HMRC should send it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk before deleting it permanently.

Student Loans
There have also been phishing scams claiming to come from the Student Loans Company. They often target first year students and dupes them into handing over personal information to steal their identity and defraud them.

They often tell the victim their details are out of date or incomplete and provide a link to a fake website where they can harvest their details.

If in doubt, contact the Student Loans Company direct using a listed number .

STUDENT PART TIME JOB OPPORTUNITIES
Be very cautious of unsolicited job offers or opportunities to make easy money. These Fraudsters will pretend to offer legitimate jobs or get rich quick schemes via emails and target vulnerable groups, such as Students, who may think this is an easy way to make money.

The fraud then builds up slowly; you may be asked to download an App to your phone which may access sensitive data on your phone.

They may often make a small payment to convince you that the job is genuine, but sooner or later they will start asking for payments for extra training or equipment. They may even make you buy worthless products or make you sign up others to the scheme before you are paid.

Sometimes the Fraudster recruits innocent people to transfer stolen money overseas using the victim’s bank account, who will then be asked to transfer the money onwards, perhaps also being allowed to keep some money for themselves.

Please feel free to share these messages with any potentially vulnerable relatives, friends and neighbours

If you have fallen for a fraud,

Report it to Report Fraud (formerly known as ACTION FRAUD) on 0300 123 2040 or via report fraud.police.uk

Scam Text messages can be forwarded to 7726 to help phone providers take prompt action and block numbers that generate spam on their networks. You can also report Scam mobile calls by texting 7726 with the word “Call” followed by the fraudulent caller’s phone number.

Forward Fake Emails received to report@phishing.gov.uk

If you think your bank account or personal banking details have been used fraudulently, then use the short phone number - 159 - to contact the Fraud Prevention Department of most major UK banks.