UNIVERSITY students in Southampton are being warned about a large scale scam attempting to trick students into handing over personal details.

Fraudsters are reportedly using '@uc.ac.uk' email accounts - a domain name commonly used by universities - to appear convincing in a fake tax refund scam.

Fake emails may promise people they are owed some money from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), in an attempt to obtain personal information.

The tax authority has received thousands of fraud reports in just a few weeks from students at colleges across the UK– including Southampton.

Now HMRC is encouraging all universities to raise awareness of scams, and many have already started taking action to warn their students of the risks.

It said it has had relatively high volumes of reports to its "phishing" service relating to the following universities - Aberdeen, Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Imperial College London, King's College London, Manchester Metropolitan, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth, Queen Mary (London), Queen's (Belfast), Southampton, Sussex, University College London and Warwick.

Pictures of <a href=Bassett - University of Southampton. April 1, 2014"> Pictures of Bassett - University of Southampton. April 1, 2014

HMRC has also had reports relating to other universities.

It said it has used cutting-edge technology to block half a billion phishing emails since 2016.

Financial Secretary to the Treasury Mel Stride said: "HMRC will never inform you about tax refunds by email, text or voicemail.

"If you receive one of these messages it is a scam. Do not click on any links in these messages, and forward them to HMRC's phishing email address."

Director of Action Fraud Pauline Smith said: "Devious fraudsters will try every trick in the book to convince victims to hand over their personal information, often with devastating consequences.

"It is vital that students spot the signs of fraudulent emails to avoid falling victim by following HMRC's advice."

Here are HMRC's tips to avoid being caught out by "phishing" scam emails:

- Recognise the signs - genuine organisations like banks and HMRC will never contact you out of the blue to ask for your Pin, password or bank details.

- Stay safe. Do not give out private information, reply to text messages, download attachments or click on links in emails you were not expecting.

- Take action. Forward suspicious emails claiming to be from HMRC to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and texts to 60599.

- If you suffer financial loss, contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use its online fraud reporting tool.

- Check gov.uk for information on how to avoid and report scams and recognise genuine HMRC contact.