International students at Lancs are targets of new ‘police’ scam

International students at Lancaster University appear to be the targets of a new scam.

The scam involves the student being told they owe money as they have missed police "registration appointments."

Lancaster University is not the first institution to report of scams like this taking place, with a similar scam also targeting international students at the University of Warwick being reported.

Students are advised to follow information on the UKCISA website in order to protect themselves against such scams in future. Official Home Office advice also states: "Official Home Office email addresses are always in this format: [email protected].

"These are the formats of official Foreign and Commonwealth Office email addresses: [email protected], [email protected].

"Sometimes the email address you see on the screen of a fake website or email is in that format, but when you click on it, it creates an email that will be sent to a different address. Always check the actual address on the email you are sending."

When asked for any further comment on the scam, Lancaster University said:

"We haven’t got any comment on it – it was simply a warning, passed on from other universities, to be vigilant."