STUDENTS heading to university and college are being warned to guard their finances as fraudsters target new starters ahead of freshers’ week.

Yesterday was moving in day for all new students heading to the University of Cumbria’s Ambleside and Carlisle sites. Course registration takes place today.

September is also the month that many young Cumbrian students will be preparing to move away to their chosen universities, often accompanied by parents who want to settle them in on arrival at halls.

Laura Downing delivered a piece of Grasmere Gingerbread to all new students at Cumbria University on the day.

This key time of year, ahead of welcome events for first-year students, has sparked a warning from the Students Loans Company (SLC).

SLC’s head of counter fraud services Fiona Innes, said: “Thousands of students are starting university in the coming weeks and fraudsters use this time to try and trick students into revealing personal details, to obtain access to the funding that is paid once they attend university.

“Freshers are particularly at risk of divulging their details as they may not be aware that the Student Loans Company will never ask a student for their personal or banking details by email or text message.

“We encourage anyone who receives a suspicious student finance email to send it to us so that we can investigate the sites and shut them down.”

The Student Loans Company administers student finance on behalf of the Government and devolved administrations across the UK.

In the last two years, SLC’s counter fraud services team stopped over half a million pounds of student funding being stolen through phishing scams.

In the last year alone, the team prevented £13.2m of taxpayers’ money from being paid out by identifying fraudulent activity.

The Student Loans Company has 8.2m customers and manages a loan book in excess of £100bn.

It paid out £7.8bn in loans and grants to new and existing students, as well as £9.4bn in fees to higher education providers.

Spotting a phishing email isn’t always easy but the Student Loans Company has five fraud facts to help freshers:

Be suspicious of any requests for personal or financial information. SLC or Student Finance England (SFE) will never ask you to confirm your bank details or login information by email.

Phishing emails are often sent in bulk and are unlikely to contain both your first and last name; they commonly start, ‘Dear Student’.

Check the quality of the communication – misspelling, poor punctuation and bad grammarare often tell-tale signs ofphishing.

‘Failure to respond in 24 hours will result in your account being closed’ these types of messages are designed to convey a sense of urgency to prompt a quick response.

Anyone who receives a suspicious email they think may be a scam should send it to phishing@slc.co.uk. SLC can investigate the site and ensure it is shut down, to help protect other students.