Employment Fraud Scam

By Your SU

Through the University's Security team, we have been made aware of an Employment Fraud scam targeting students.

A student at a North East university has been a victim of the scam, losing several thousand pounds to fraudsters. In this case, the student had responded to a website advertising a 'work from home' job with a company called ‘Priceline’. Reviews of the company indicated that this was a genuine company. The student was advised that the job was commission-based and would need to transfer some of their own money into an account first. They did this, but later realised they could not access/withdraw this money. They later realised that the website was a cloned version of Priceline’s genuine website and therefore this was a scam, with £13,000 stolen.

The company also gave the student a 'mentor' who put some of his own money into this account - he is now sending texts demanding repayment.

To ensure that you do not also become a victim you can follow these practical steps:

• Stop = stop and think about it
• Consult = chat with other people about it
• Assess = is it too good to be true? Are there any red flags?
• Manage = report to the Police at Action Fraud

The University offers further practical online safety advice, which can be found here: Cyber Safety | The University of Sunderland