Fraud Awareness

Keeping yourself safe from fraud

All over the world, there are people who try to trick others into giving away their personal information and bank details. Anyone can be a victim of this, and it can be very difficult to tell whether communication is genuine.

Ask yourself these questions when you're unsure:

Are they saying you are in trouble?
Are they asking for personal information?
Does it sound too good to be true?

It can be difficult to discern whether an email is an official correspondence, or a scam. We encourage you to pause, reflect and check it with others before responding to or ignoring communications (e.g. a Council Tax letter).

What should I do if I think I have been a victim of fraud?

Take 5 and tell 2 – In any scenario where you are unsure about the communication you have received, take 5 minutes away to think about what is being asked of you and tell 2 people about it. Some fraudsters may ask you to cut contact with family and friends.
Whether you are unsure if a type of contact is genuine, contact the International Student Advisory Team, Student Financial Support Team, or the Reading Students Union Money Advisers. If out of hours (gone past 5 pm) contact Action Fraud: 0300 123 2040
If you have given away your card details, you will need to contact your bank and cancel your card as soon as possible.

As well as following these steps you should report the fraud. Check out our list of contacts you can use to report fraud:

Reporting fraud

Reporting Fraud

Action Fraud: Action Fraud is the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, where you should report fraud if you have been scammed, defrauded or experienced cybercrime.
Thames Valley Police is one of the 43 police forces in England and Wales and is the largest non-metropolitan force. It covers over 2,200 square miles and three counties: Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. You can find information and advice on protecting yourself from Fraud on their webpages, as well as information on how to report fraud.
Student Loans Company: if you have experienced fraud related to your student loan, the Student Loans Company have an online form and guidance on how to report suspected fraud to the Student Loans Company.
Gov.uk Reporting Fraud webpage: contain information on how to report fraud and how to report suspicious activity.
UK Government Information webpage: offer advice on protecting yourself from tricks and scams the Home Office is aware of.
Reporting spam text messages: If you’ve received a phone call or message, but you haven’t lost money, you can easily report it by forwarding the messages, free of charge, to 7726.
Reporting suspicious emails: If you have received a suspicious email that you’re not quite sure about, you can forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk.

Types of fraud

Fraud and Scam: A situation where a person tricks/ deceives/ pretends to be someone else or a company to gain money dishonestly. Taking advantage of someone’s vulnerability.

Phishing: Usually in the form of an email, where it will ask for you to log into your account through a fake link (which is made to look real).

Vishing: Vishing usually happen during a phone call, where the person calling tries to get you to share personal or account information, passwords and/or bank details. Please be aware, that fraudsters can make the caller ID shown to be from a contact of yours.

Smishing: In the form of a text message pretending to be a legitimate reputable company, to gain your personal information or bank information.

Money Mules: A Money Mule is where you let someone else use your bank account to send money into. HM Revenue and Customs have provided more information on money mulling and what you can do to protect yourself from becoming involved.

Virtual kidnapping ransom scam: this scam often targets International Students. A student is contacted by someone pretending to be from the embassy of their home country. This person tells the student they have been accused of a serious crime. They are then persuaded not to tell anyone and to cut all contact with their family. Money is then extorted from the family as well as from the student.

Harassment: Harassment is not a type of fraud; however, sometimes it is linked to a fraud situation. Harassment is when someone you know, or a stranger behaves in a way which makes you feel intimated/humiliated or threatened and can lead to blackmail. The University takes these situations very seriously and have a number of teams to help support you, you can use the online tool Report & Support to notify the University of incidents that require action. It will be taken seriously and you will get the support you need and deserve.

Sexual and romantic fraud: These can begin on social media a stranger may appear to be interested in a romantic relationship. Be aware of sharing explicit photos or videos online as these can be used as blackmail.

Rental fraud: These scams often involve contracts for houses that don’t actually exist, or that the scammer has rented to multiple people at the same time. Check out the online financial learning platform Blackbullion's blog on protecting yourself from scams for advice on avoiding rental scams.

Amazon vouchers or other gifts: Some scams can be tap into your kindness and generosity. You may be contacted by someone asking for an Amazon Voucher or gift because they or someone they know is ill or struggling. Make sure you are 100% sure on whether this person is someone you know.

Keep informed about preventing fraud

If you would like to stay informed about current scams that you or your friends and family could be affected by, sign up to Which’s Fraud and Scam Newsletter.

For all information on how to stay safe from fraud or what to do if you believe you have been a victim of fraud, read the Fraud Protection Toolkit . We also have paper copies of these in the Carrington building which you are welcome to take.

Advice from the Financial Support Team