Scam affecting Chinese students
Find out more about the ‘third party facilitator’ scam currently affecting Chinese students.
Read the guideScams targeting students
Be wary of people offering to pay fees on your behalf, often at reduced rates or under special conditions.
Please be aware of scams targeting students. These could involve third parties offering to pay tuition fees on your behalf.
Fraudsters may present themselves as legitimate agencies or associates while scheming to steal money and personal data from students. You may be asked to pay cash online or in-person.
Never respond to these offers and always pay your tuition fees direct to Bath Spa University using the authorised payment methods on our How to Pay page. Making payments in any other way than the University’s recommended payment methods may result in a loss of funds.
Always report anything suspicious to the University. Email myfinance@bathspa.ac.uk for advice if you’re unsure.
Please see Action Fraud for further guidance.
How to spot fraud
There are many different scams. Be suspicious of the following things:
- The offer sounds too good to be true
- The email asks for your bank details or login details
- You're asked to send money in advance
- The email address seems unusual
- The email contains bad spelling and grammar.
What are the scams?
Scams targeting students can affect students from all over the world. For example, a scammer might falsely use a university’s name and ask you to 'validate your account' or provide personal, security or banking details.
We'll never ask you to confirm information in this way. Ignore such emails and report them as phishing spam.
Student finance scams
In recent years, fake emails pretending to be from the Student Loans Company (SLC) and other student finance organisations have been sent to students at UK universities.
These emails falsely notify students that their account has been suspended due to incomplete information. They often contain a link to a fake website to gain personal details.
Our team will never ask for your login, password, bank details or personal information by email. Don't click on the links within these emails.
Tuition payment scams
Around the three loan payment dates in September, January and April, fraudsters may target students in an attempt to trick them into disclosing personal information with the aim of accessing their online accounts and stealing their money.
We'll never email you a link to pay your fees. All students are advised to pay online on our payments page directly themselves or by international bank transfer using Flywire.
Resources
Visit Take Five to learn more about scams and how to recognise them.
Review our student finance page for more information about fees, payments, and funding options.
Report suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk and suspicious text messages to 7726.
Need to get in touch?
If you’re contacted by suspicious individuals or receive emails that you’re not sure about, please report them to us via myfinance@bathspa.ac.uk.
If you have any queries about tuition fees or funding and you can’t find the information you need on our website, please email us via myfinance@bathspa.ac.uk.