Police arrest six over student loans phishing scam

 

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By Stewart Mitchell

Posted on 9 Dec 2011 at 12:15

The Met Police have arrested six people over a phishing scam that netted more than £1 million.

According to the Police Central e-Crime Unit, the scam targeted hundreds of UK students in August.

The PCeU said the scam worked by sending out emails asking potential victims to update details on their student loan account via a link to a “convincing but bogus website”.

Once the details were compromised, the suspects accessed bank accounts and extracted funds ranging from £1,000 to £5,000 at a time, the police said, after making arrests in London, Manchester and Bolton

"A great deal of personal information was compromised and cleverly exploited for substantial profits,” said Detective Inspector Mark Raymond from the PCeU.

The suspects, four men and two women, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud, for money laundering offences and under the Computer Misuse Act.