KINGSTON University students should be on the look out for phishing emails after scammers disguised themselves as HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in order to fraudulently collect bank details.
Students at the university received emails, such as the one pictured above, claiming to be various finance institutions with a request for the users account number and sort code.
KU student Frank Goodwin, who almost fell victim to the phishing emails, said: “The emails were very convincing. It looked legit because the logo was there and they had even set up an identical fake email account.”
Goodwin had almost given his bank details online after he received an email asking him to complete forms from a loans company.
He said: “Before I sent off my details via an online form, I realised it was a scam because I remembered that my girlfriend told me that most loans companies call over the phone to get your bank details.”
Richard Hill, Kingston University security analyst, said: “I generally think there is not much more we can do at this stage to prevent them.”
New data released by Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau showed that the rate for phishing frauds in the UK has increased.
Last year (January 2015 – December 2015), the fraud and cybercrime reporting centre received on average 8,000 reports per month, with 96,699 people reporting that they had received a phishing scam.
To avoid becoming a victim of phishing emails visit Kingston University’s IT security page.
