• Avoid walking home alone. If you do you can use apps like Find My Friends,   Bsafe and Life360 to track your journey with friends and family.
• Keep to well lit areas and avoid places you don't know, even if it’s a short cut.
• Get cash before you go out at night. This means you can avoid using cash machines in the dark and will help curb your spending! Make sure you have some saved for the journey home too.
• You may come across aggression, avoid getting into a fight by staying calm and respecting others space. If you do have a problem walk away as fast as you can and report the incident to the police.

Transport

Cycling

Make sure you're visible with high vis clothing and lights on your bike - it’s illegal to cycle on a public road after dark without lights and reflectors.

When locking up your bike, two locks are better than one. Keep to well lit-areas and in view of CCTV, where possible.

Make sure you keep safe at night, whether on a night out or heading home after study, with these handy tips:

You can also register your bike for extra security with https://www.bikeregister.com/.

Traveling By Bus

Using the University bus? You can access timetables on the website. The best stop to get on the bus on campus is opposite the Union on Cambridge Road.

Plan your journey in advance and make sure you know alternative buses in case you need them.

Getting a Taxi

If you plan on using a taxi, plan your journeys out and back before you leave and make sure you keep some spare money to one side for fare.

Keep reputable Taxis numbers handy or use approved Hackney’s at Taxi stands

If you are at all worried in a taxi, ask the driver to stop in a busy area and get out of the car.

Uber Safety Tips:

1. Request your trip inside. Minimise the time you're standing outside by yourself.
2. Check your trip. Make sure you're getting into the right car with the right driver. Check the licence plate, car make & driver photo.
3. Have the driver confirm your name/ drop-off location. Your driver sees your first name in their app, and your driver’s first name is displayed to you in your app.
4.  Always wear your seat belt.
5. Share your trip details with loved ones. Tap share trip status in the app to share your driver’s name, photo, license plate, and location with a friend or family member.
6. Following your intuition: Trust your instincts and use your best judgment when riding with Uber. If you ever feel that you’re in an urgent situation, you can call emergency services by using the emergency button located in your app. Any time you call emergency services from the Uber app, the app provides you with your real-time location and trip details that you can share with the dispatcher.

Reporting

Reporting A Crime

If you become a victim of crime, report to the Police or University Security immediately.

Off campus call 999

On campus call +44 (0) 23 9284 3333

Non-urgent reports can be made to any police station or by calling 101

Online Safety

Make sure you keep safe online, whether on social media or even emails, with these handy tips:

 Fraud/Scams 

Scams can come through your email inbox, phone, social media or letter box. Scammers will use any means possible to get your money and/or personal information.

The top scams targeted at students:

1. Tuition Fee Payments: A third party offers to process your fees and pass your money on to the university, sometimes offering incentives, discounts of attractive exchange rates to tempt to you send them your money. However they instead steal your cash and don’t pay your fees. Sometimes they send you a receipt showing the full payment made, but it's likely this is faked.
2. Essay Mill Blackmailers: Companies offer to write assessments for payment, and then try to blackmail you, threatening to report you to the University. If at any point you need more support with your assessments, contact your lecturers or Personal Tutor for advice, or get help from teams like the Academic Skills Unit.
3. Money Muling or Money Laundering: Students are offered payment in exchange for receiving money into their account and then transfer it on. Money laundering is a serious criminal offence and if the University is informed of, or suspects, fraudulent payment activity, we will take appropriate action. Don't be tempted by promises of 'easy money' online.
4. Scammers Posing as University Staff: Some students have been approached by callers who claim to be from their university's Finance team, telling them they've been a victim of bank fraud, and trying to get personal information and money.

Click here to read more about how to protect yourself from Fraud/ Scams.

Social Media

• Know how to report and block content. Report harmful comments/ content and block accounts that are making you uncomfortable.
• Personalise your privacy settings. Select options that limit who can view your information.

Site specific security pages:

Twitter.

Instagram.

Facebook.

Pinterest.

Snapchat.

LinkedIn.

Spotify.

Venmo

• Pause before you post. Are you comfortable sharing this information with everyone who might see it. Even when you delete content it can sometimes be accessed still.
• Turn off geolocation. Many social media sites or apps will request to access your location, but in most cases this isn’t necessary. 
• Look before you click.  If you get a suspicious sounding message from a friend through social media, it’s best not to automatically click it. Your friend’s account may have been hacked. 
• Pick strong passwords. This can help to protect against someone getting in to your account to post spam or impersonate you.
• Do regular social media privacy check-ups. 

Click here for more information.