Students urged to ‘stop and think before you click’ as student finance payments begin

Students are being warned to watch out for Student Finance fraud as maintenance loan payments begin for the new academic year.

The Student Loans Company (SLC) is due to pay around £2.6 billion in maintenance support to 1.1 million students during September. Fraudsters know when these payments are being made and may use convincing emails, text messages or phone calls to try to steal personal and financial information.

Fraudulent messages may claim that:

• Your Student Finance payment has been blocked or is at risk.
• You need to urgently update your bank details.
• There is a problem with your Student Finance account.
• Your account will be closed unless you take immediate action.

How to protect yourself

Stop and think before you click. Do not click links in unexpected messages claiming to be from Student Finance or the Student Loans Company.

The Student Loans Company will never ask you to provide or confirm personal or financial information by email or text, or give you an urgent deadline threatening to close your account. Student Finance England and SLC also do not provide services through WhatsApp or initiate contact through social media about your application or entitlement.

If you receive an unexpected message, go directly to GOV.UK and sign in to your Student Finance account rather than following a link in the message.

Suspicious emails can be forwarded to report@phishing.gov.uk, while suspicious text messages can be forwarded free of charge to 7726. If you think your Student Finance account has been compromised, contact the Student Loans Company using the official contact details on GOV.UK.

Remember: Stop. Think. Check. Don’t let urgency make the decision for you.

Read the full Student Loans Company warning on GOV.UK

Reporting and Support

If you have been a victim and lost money, call 101 and report it to Humberside Police.

Visit fraudwatch.org.uk for more information about fraud and where to get support.

You can also sign up to receive future alerts at alerts.fraudwatch.org.uk.