Cyber and fraud team help students protect themselves from scams

Scores of students learnt how to protect themselves from scams as cyber and fraud officers went along to a freshers’ fair.  

Nottinghamshire Police’s cyber and fraud protect teams attended the University of Nottingham’s Welcome Village to help students get to grips with online security.

As well as one-to-one advice, students received a host of materials designed to help them improve their cyber security. The information included an Online Security Checklist, which outlines the steps people can take to protect their accounts. The checklist can be found here: https://shorturl.at/optER

They also learnt about current trends – including how students are increasingly being targeted by criminal groups to act as 'money mules' to cover up illegal activity.

Among those who visited the stall, in a marquee next to the Portland Building, was Hestia Ko, a third-year Philosophy student. She said: “It’s been really helpful. I received a phone call recently from a fraudster who told me my HSBC account was in danger and that I needed to give him my password so he could protect it.

“I didn’t fall for it, thankfully. It’s good Nottinghamshire Police are here to tell students what scams to look out for and how they can protect themselves.”

Kirsty Jackson, from the Cyber Protect team, said Nottinghamshire Police was committed to helping people protect themselves from cybercriminals and fraudsters.

She said: “Learning how to mitigate the risks of being scammed can be daunting for a lot people but there are some simple steps people can take that make a huge difference.

“With cyber security for example, we explain it as like an online house. Your password is like your front door so using a random, separate password for all online accounts (using 3 random words, with a mix of upper- and lower-case characters), this will help shut that door.

“The back door is like your forgotten password options, therefore don’t use easily guessed or publicly available information as your answers and ensure your personal information is up to date across all accounts you have.

“To secure both those doors, add a lock called 2-step verification. That then provides you with an access code that you mustn’t give to anyone else, much like you wouldn’t give away your house keys.”

Further information and cyber security tips can be found at: Nottinghamshire | EM Cyber Secure (eastmidlandscybersecure.co.uk)

For information and advice on how to protect yourself from fraud, visit: www.nottinghamshire.police.uk/fraud