KEIGHLEY university students are being warned to be on their guard against scammers.

It follows a spate of incidents in which students have received seemingly-legitimate e-mails informing them of tax refunds.

HMRC says thousands of fraud attempts, aimed at stealing personal details and money, have been reported in the space of just a few weeks.

Universities across the north – including Durham, Manchester Metropolitan and Newcastle – are among those which have been targeted, but students at every university are warned to be aware.

“The scammers are using what look like legitimate university e-mail addresses – for example @uc.ac.uk – in order to avoid detection,” said a spokesman.

“This is the largest direct attack of its kind we have seen on students.

“HMRC will never inform people about tax refunds by e-mail, text or voicemail.

“If you receive one of these messages, it is a scam. Do not click on any links, and forward the message to our phishing e-mail address.

“Although HMRC is cracking down hard on internet scams, criminals will stop at nothing to steal personal information. I’d encourage all students to become phishing aware.”

For more details, visit gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs and search for phishing.