UK student loans targeted by phishers in latest spam campaign

With British students about to start another year at university, the last thing they probably want to hear is that there is a problem with a student loan.

But that’s precisely the camouflage that online scammers are using to steal personal information today.

An email, claiming to come from Directgov UK, tells students that there is a problem with the online account for their student loan, and they need to update their account urgently.

Here’s a typical spammed-out message we’ve seen in our traps:

Subject:

Student Loan Update.

Message body:

Dear Student Finance Customer.

We at HM Government noticed your Student loan online log in details is incorrect and need to be updated.

DOWNLOAD THE ATTACHMENT TO UPDATE YOUR ACCOUNT NOW

Regards
Inline Verification. Directgov UK.

Attached file:

Student Loan Update.html

Clicking on the HTML…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, or drop him an email.