UKVI Action Fraud Campaign
Guidance from the UK Government on preventing fraud
Every year, the UK welcomes tens of thousands of international students who wish to study at our world class institutions.
Unfortunately, UKVI have identified that international students are sometimes being targeted by fraudsters upon arrival in the UK.
UKVI have teamed up with Action Fraud to produce a guidance pack for international students to provid information on keeping safe against fraudlent activity. This guidance pack can be found at the bottom of this page.
Key messages
- If you receive an unexpected email, telephone call or letter from somone who claims to be from the Home Office, it could be a scam
- Legitimate Home Office officials will never contact you and ask you to pay visa fees or fines over the phone
- Neither the Home Office nor UKVI will ask you to make payment using iTunes vouchers, gift cards, cryptocurrency or a money transfer service
What should I do if I receive an unexpected communication?
If you receive a communication from the Home Office that you are not sure is genuine, you should:
- Contact the Student Immigration Service at the University of Edinburgh at studentimmigration@ed.ac.uk with details of the communication you have received. One of the team will then be able to invesitage if the communication is genuine
- Report the commuinication to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040
