The National Economic Crime Centre (NECC), a unit established to tackle economic crime, has acted to freeze 95 bank accounts of students attending UK universities. These accounts are suspected of being used in significant money laundering operations.
Many of the accounts are held by overseas students who may be unaware that operating a bank account in this manner is potentially illegal. Officers from the NECC assess that the students are likely to have been targeted by organised crime groups, specifically to launder the proceeds of crime.
“The message to students is to remain vigilant and question anything that seems unusual. We would encourage any student who fears their account may have been misused to speak to either their university support services, banks, or to the police.”
The British Council’s Creating Confidence guidance and the UKCISA website both contain helpful information.