05/09/2026
The Students Loans Company (SLC) is reminding students to be vigilant of smishing scams.
Smishing, which is fraud involving text messages, where students are asked to click a link to complete a task – for example verifying bank details or confirming personal information, providing an opportunity for a payment to be diverted to a scammer’s bank account.
**SLC will never ask students to provide or verify their personal or financial information via email or text message.**
Top tips:
- Check for misspelling, poor punctuation and bad grammar are often signs of phishing
- Be aware of suspicious looking emails, phone calls or text messages
- Scam emails and text messages that start - ‘Dear Student’
- Messages that convey a sense of urgency are also unlikely to be genuine, eg. ‘failure to respond in 24 hours will result in...’
- Think before you click on email or text links
- Always use official phone numbers, the online account and official communication channels to verify the contact received is genuine
- Be mindful of the information you share about yourself on social media, and elsewhere online
Check out the guide to identifying a scam at www.gov.uk/guidance/phishing-scams-how-you-can-avoid-them
