Fraudsters Attack Student Loans

Posted by admin on December 16, 2011 under News | Be the First to Comment

The Student Loans Company (SLC) is to contact some of their customers regarding fears of a fraud attack.

The SLC – which has over 4million customers – administers loans to current students and also the repayments from former students.

The SLC have issued a statement saying that they will be calling those customers deemed as “being at risk of having their details compromised.”

These calls have been described as only being a preventative measure, to insure that details remain safe from fraudsters.

The student loan system is being constantly bombarded with attacks, with over 1400 “phishing” sites shut down in this year alone.

The advice issued by the SLC is that their customers should be “vigilant with their personal details.

The company have said that they cannot confirm whether or not any private details of customers have been hacked – arguing that it does not want to provide those responsible with any more information which may be of use to them.

They have also declined to put a figure to the customers that have been targeted, saying that “this is an ongoing enquiry”.

In response to what they believe to be a phishing-style attack on their customers – by which swindlers attempt to obtain person information via mediums such as email – the SLC have been calling some of its customers directly.

Fraud Prevention and Detection Manager for the SLC, Heather Laing said: “We are currently contacting a number of students by telephone who we have identified as being at risk of having their details compromised, to advise them of the necessary security steps they should follow to ensure their details are protected,

“We would advise all students to be vigilant with their personal details. Student FinanceEnglandor the Student Loans Company will never ask you to verify your personal or bank details by email.”

The student loan system has become a regular target for fraudsters, leading to the police pursuing – in some cases – very extensive phishing operations.

For those students and former students that are worried about this kind of activity taking place, the SLC have published advice in an attempt to help prevent fraud, drawing attention to the need to be wary of contacts seeking personal or financial details from them.