Hackers are preying on freshman college students in the U.K., tricking them into clicking on a link to update their information that could lead to malicious software being installed on their computers.
According to a report, the scam is targeted at students who are getting their first loan installment payments. The email pretends to be from Student Finance England and claims student will lose or delay their September payment if they don’t update their personal information by clicking on a link in the email. The link could result in malicious code being installed on the device of the email recipient.
The Student Loans Company warned borrowers to not disclose any details of their personal information and to not respond to the email. They are also urging students to avoid clicking on any links in the emails. “Online fraudsters are aware that freshers are starting university for the first time next month and are targeting them, continuing students and their sponsors with emails and texts requesting personal and banking details to access their finance,” said Fiona Innes, head of counter fraud services at the Student Loans Company, in the report. She said phishing emails are typically sent in batches so more of it should come.
Innes said if an email requests personal information, includes an impersonal greeting like “Dear Student,” has any spelling or grammatical errors or uses scare tactics, like “failure to respond within 24 hours will result in your account being closed,” these should all be considered red flags. The Student Loans Company doesn’t request personal or banking information via email or text.
According to the report, hundreds of thousands of students in the U.K. are waiting to receive their A-level results, which are slated to be released next Thursday (Aug. 18).
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