By Natalie Barton

As students get ready for the new, and possibly their first, university year, many have fallen victim to a ‘phishing’ scam.

This scam has saw fraudsters claiming to offer students a ‘grant’ that is actually designed to convince them into divulging personal banking information.

Financial site Money Saving Expert has said it is aware of students at many major universities being targeted by these phishing emails, some students have already lost hundreds of pounds.

Many universities have warned their students to ignore the email.

Student’s have claimed that the emails received are very convincing, complete with their university’s logo with the sender being the university’s finance department, it then invites students to claim a government bursary.

The online form attached to the email, asks students for their personal details as well as bank details directing them to a banking verification page.

Money Saving Expert say that a student from Queen Mary University of London has found that the fraudsters had already taken £300 from her bank account.

QMUL has said ‘We were made aware late last week that a number of QMUL students had received these phishing emails.

‘QMUL proactively monitors its systems to prevent and detect breaches, and there is no evidence to suggest any system has been compromised in this instance.

‘A message was sent to all students warning them about the scam and providing them with advice on how they can protect themselves online, including details of our cybersecurity training courses’

The University of Glasgow has said it would never ask its students for financial information in this way.

In an email to all students, the university addressed that matter;

‘This is an email message that appears as if it has come from the University of Glasgow’s finance department. It has not’ .

The Student Loan Company has told student’s how to detect a ‘phishing’ email saying;

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