Uplawmoor Community Council is urging local residents to beware of a callous scam aimed at robbing students.

They have passed on an alert from the local Neighbourhood Watch, which warns of a bogus grants notice that could leave unwary students penniless.

The fraud starts with an email which claims the student has been awarded an educational grant by the Department of Education.

It claims to have come from the finance department of the student's university, and aims to trick the potential victim into clicking on a link contained in the message to provide personal and banking details.

Having provided full details – including student ID, National Insurance number, bank account details and even mother's maiden name – the victim is taken to a spoofed website which looks like a genuine website of their bank, where they are asked to type in online banking login credentials.

The fraudsters then have everything they need to simply empty an account, leaving students broke and desperate before the term's studies have even started.

As with similar frauds, students are warned not to click on links or open attachments within unsolicited emails.

If an email appears to have come from a person or organisation you know of but the message is unexpected or unusual, the advice is to contact them directly using another method to confirm they actually sent you the email.

Anyone who thinks they may have compromised the safety of their bank details – or who has lost money due to fraudulent misuse of bank cards – should report it to their bank immediately and contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or visit www.actionfraud.police.uk.