STUDENTS have been warned to be careful after a spate of frauds aiming to steal their loans and grants.

The Student Loans Company reports that there is a surge in fraudsters sending out phishing emails over the festive period, trying to trick students into giving them the details they need to access their money ahead of the next loan instalment date in January.

The organisation is urging students to be vigilant and reminding them not to post personal details anywhere online, especially on social media sites, which are often targeted by fraudsters.

In the past three years The Student Loans Company’s dedicated fraud team has prevented almost £3m being diverted to fraudsters by monitoring student loan phishing and closing down phishing sites as soon as they are identified.

In a bid to crack down on these criminals, they are calling on students to forward phishing emails to them.

Heather Laing, head of counter fraud services at the Student Loans Company, said: “Fraudsters usually target students at the three main instalment dates and we anticipate that there will be a surge in phishing emails over the festive period and around the January payment dates.

“We monitor student loan phishing very closely and close down phishing sites as soon as students alert us.

“Students are reminded never to post their personal details anywhere online.

“We will never request a customer to provide or confirm their bank details by email or text.”

Students should send any suspicious student finance emails to phishing@slc.co.uk.