Fake job offers delivered via Microsoft Teams meeting invites target UK students during freshers season

What is this scam?

As the new university semester begins, fraudsters are delivering phishing job offers via Microsoft Teams meeting invitations and Google Calendar events rather than conventional emails, exploiting the assumption that Teams invites originate from legitimate organisations. Messages use generic greetings such as 'Hello Student', reference vague part-time or remote roles with unusually high pay, and create urgency with tight deadlines. The University of Manchester and other UK institutions issued warnings in mid-September 2026 about this technique, which is designed to harvest personal details and banking information from students receiving their first maintenance loan payments.

Example scam message

Red flags to look out for

• The message creates urgency — threatening a fine, missed delivery, or account closure.
• Links lead to unofficial domains that don't match the real company's website.
• You weren't expecting this message and can't verify the event it references.
• It asks you to confirm payment details or personal information via a link.
• The sender's number or email address doesn't match the company's official contact.

What to do if you receive this

1. Do not call any numbers or click any links in the message.
2. Log in to your account directly via the official website or app to check for any real alerts.
3. Forward the message to 7726 or email report@phishing.gov.uk.
4. Report it to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk.