Keep Yourself Scam Safe this Welcome Week!
Protect your money and personal details throughout Welcome Week and beyond.
Welcome Week is a huge date in your Lancaster calendar — probably one of the biggest. Which means it is also a huge date in scammers calendar’s too.
Over the summer, you might see ads, social media profiles, group chats, and more from Freshers events and groups who promise that they’re ‘100% official’, with all of their events nearly sold out.
But before you get out the bank details, wait! Because it may not be what it seems.
Freshers scams are common at this time of year, with fraudsters promising official university/LUSU events that aren’t connected to us at all and that may not even take place.
So, how do you know what to trust? Keeping yourself, your money, and your information safe is as easy as following the tips below.
Want to know what’s official? Follow the right accounts! The University’s Welcome site has a whole page dedicated to introducing their official accounts, as well as ours.
LUSU will only ever promote Fresher’s events on our Instagrams:
@the_sugarhouse (our student nightclub)
Your college may also use their own official social media accounts to promote events.
We don’t use Whatsapp to promote—and neither does the uni. The University also hosts a Unibuddy community where new students can connect before term begins.
If you spot any other ‘Freshers’ accounts focused on selling tickets and promoting Whatsapp chats—you should probably keep away.
Social Media & Group Chats
Any official events (through the uni, the colleges, or LUSU) will be detailed on the uni’s Welcome schedule.
Tickets for Fresher’s events hosted by LUSU or our nightclub, The Sugarhouse, will only be available from official channels such as the Instagrams above, our official LUSU website, the Welcome to Lancaster site, the Sugarhouse website, and the Sugarhouse FIXR page.
Website & Tickets
Unsure? Ask!
For general advice from Lancaster University, contact ASK – the University’s one-stop student enquiry service.
For general Students’ Union enquiries, contact LUSU Welcome Desk
If you’re concerned about financial fraud, visit this dedicated page for advice and support
Written by Shannon Daniel
ENGLISH LANGUAGE & CREATIVE WRITING GRADUATE