New research says 69% of students have met a scam, nearly double the general public. Mastercard, NatWest and the Home Office are teaming up to help.
University students are about twice as likely to run into a scam as the wider public, according to new research shared by Mastercard. It found that 69% of students have met a scam, compared with 36% of the general population.
Of the students who were scammed, 78% said it happened within three months of arriving on campus. That suggests the first weeks away from home are the riskiest. NatWest, a UK bank, estimates students could lose about £20 million to fraud this academic year.
Mastercard, NatWest and the Home Office, a UK government department, have teamed up to help keep students safe from fraud. The effort is aimed at the moments when students invest, buy, take a job or pay rent.
The available material does not say what the joint effort will include, how the research was carried out, or how many students were asked. It also does not spell out the four checks students are meant to use. Until those details are published, families can share the warning itself: slow down and check before money changes hands in any of those four situations.
If a student in your family is starting university, warn them early: most scams in the research hit within three months of arrival.
Visa tested 22 AI models on realistic shopping tasks. They passed just over half, and often bought the wrong thing anyway.
Read more: Visa tested 22 AI shoppers, and most still make costly mistakesFake PayPal emails and texts, some posing as a security report, try to get you to tap a link and type your login. Checking your account directly avoids the trap.
Read more: Got a fake PayPal message? Skip its link and check your account yourselfA refurbished laptop can beat a new one on price and specs, but a worn battery or a sloppy repair can erase the savings. Here is what to check first.
Read more: Refurbished laptops can save you money, if you check a few things first
