Students in Suffolk lost nearly £850,000 fraudsters in 2023 warns Action Fraud

Students in Suffolk lost nearly £850,000 to fraudsters last year.

It comes as police seek to warn students starting or heading back to university this month, with £143.7 million lost nationally to criminals.

Action Fraud, the national fraud and cybercrime reporting service, has launched a student safety campaign detailing the top frauds to look out for, where the most money was lost to and how to prevent students from becoming a target.

The most money lost across the nation was to investment fraud, with a total of £29,509.631.

This is where fraudsters target students looking to make quick wins with available cash through things such as cryptocurrency schemes with a promise of a high return. These are often done through social media.

Following this was online shopping fraud with £9,199,951 lost nationally. Often criminals will create fake websites or replicate legitimate outlets to trick customers.

The third biggest student fraud was in relation to rent, with students across the country losing £4,270,255. Thieves target students seeking university housing and often ask for payments in advance before visiting a property.

Following this was ticket fraud with £1,053,493 lost nationally by fraudsters selling fake tickets, particularly at freshers events, and fake job fraud, to which £149,719 was lost by students across the country. Criminals target students looking for job opportunities and steal personal information or money.

There were 608 individual reports of fraud in Suffolk in 2023, totalling £842,169 lost.

Adam Mercer, deputy director of Action Fraud, said: “Young people can be a primary target for fraudsters.

“Everyone starting the new university or school year should be able to focus on new exciting experiences and meeting new people, but we know this is not the case for some.

“It’s important to look out for these top frauds and for students to protect themselves online, as well as in-person, from different types of fraud."

For more tips on student safety visit actionfraud.police.uk/studentsafety.

Police said students can protect themselves from fraud through measures including having different, strong passwords; exercising caution about how money is sent, as well as not falling to pressure to send large sums of money; being wary of unsolicited emails, texts or contacts on social media.

Suspicious emails can be reported by forwarding them to report@phishing.gov.uk

Suspicious texts and spam calls can be reported free of charge to 7726.