What are the red flags of this scam?

A text or email claims your maintenance loan payment has been blocked or your bank details need updating — SLC never contacts you this way • The message creates urgency: 'Your account will be closed' or 'payment will not arrive' unless you act immediately • The link points to a cloned GOV.UK-looking page that is not student.loans.gov.uk or the official GOV.UK Student Finance portal • You are asked to enter your Student Finance login, National Insurance number, or sort code / account number on a page you reached from a text link • The sender claims to be 'Student Finance England', 'Student Loans Company', or 'GOV.UK' but the number is a personal mobile or an unknown email address

What should I do if this happened to me?

Do not click the link. Forward the suspicious text free to 7726 and the email to report@phishing.gov.uk, then delete the message • Log in to your Student Finance account only by typing https://www.gov.uk/student-finance directly into your browser — never follow a link in a message • If you already entered your details on the fake site, log into your real GOV.UK account immediately from a clean device and change your password, then tell your bank your sort code and account number may be compromised • Contact the Student Loans Company on 0300 100 0607 (England) if your maintenance payment fails to arrive or you think your account has been tampered with • Report to Action Fraud at https://www.actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040.

HIGH phishing Last reported: 30 Sept 2026 Share

A text says your Student Finance payment is blocked — click to update your bank details

Q: Is this a scam?

Yes. This is a documented scam pattern. A text, email, or call pretending to be from the Student Loans Company says your maintenance payment is blocked and your bank details need updating. SLC never contacts students by text, email, or social media to confirm bank or personal details — always log in directly at GOV.UK.

A text, email, or call pretending to be from the Student Loans Company says your maintenance payment is blocked and your bank details need updating. SLC never contacts students by text, email, or social media to confirm bank or personal details — always log in directly at GOV.UK.

Also known as: Student Loans Company smishing, student finance payment text scam, SLC bank details phishing, student maintenance loan fraud

Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes

1 Call your bank or card's fraud line right now. Use the number on the back of your card — not any number from the message or caller. Ask them to stop or reverse the payment and freeze the account.
2 If you paid by gift card, wire, or an app (Zelle, Venmo, Cash App): contact that company immediately and report it as fraud. Acting fast sometimes recovers the money.
3 Report to the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. The sooner, the better.

What to do right now

1 Do not click the link. Forward the suspicious text free to 7726 and the email to [email protected], then delete the message
2 Log in to your Student Finance account only by typing https://www.gov.uk/student-finance directly into your browser — never follow a link in a message
3 If you already entered your details on the fake site, log into your real GOV.UK account immediately from a clean device and change your password, then tell your bank your sort code and account number may be compromised
4 Contact the Student Loans Company on 0300 100 0607 (England) if your maintenance payment fails to arrive or you think your account has been tampered with
5 Report to Action Fraud at https://www.actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040.

Red flags

⚠ A text or email claims your maintenance loan payment has been blocked or your bank details need updating — SLC never contacts you this way
⚠ The message creates urgency: 'Your account will be closed' or 'payment will not arrive' unless you act immediately
⚠ The link points to a cloned GOV.UK-looking page that is not student.loans.gov.uk or the official GOV.UK Student Finance portal
⚠ You are asked to enter your Student Finance login, National Insurance number, or sort code / account number on a page you reached from a text link
⚠ The sender claims to be 'Student Finance England', 'Student Loans Company', or 'GOV.UK' but the number is a personal mobile or an unknown email address

Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes

What to do right now

Red flags

Sources