UK Sponsor Licence Holders Warned Of Phishing Scams - Work Visas

The Office has recently issued a communication to sponsors' Key Contacts and Authorising Officers, warning of phishing scams that could compromise Sponsorship Management System (SMS) account security. All sponsors should take action to check for unauthorised activity on their SMS account.

According to the communication sent to sponsors on 28 October 2025, the Office has become aware of more SMS phishing email scams, with the emails purporting to be from the Office. They are often sent to shared mailboxes found on organisation websites, but they could also be sent to your personal work email address. There have also been reports of mailboxes receiving lots of spam mail, in an attempt to mask Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) payment receipts.

The scam emails vary in content, but some mention a warning of compliance action or account suspension if you fail to log in. Others advise you to log in to update your SMS account details. If you click on the unauthorised link, you'll be asked to provide your SMS User ID and password, which risks the scammer being granted access to your SMS account.

Scammers want to gain access to your account mainly to apply for and assign CoS fraudulently.

What to do if you've received an email with a link to a fake SMS login page

The Office has confirmed it will only ever send communications relating to your sponsor licence to email addresses provided for your nominated key personnel.

If you've received a phishing email and have entered your login details, you must follow the 4 steps below.

Securely access your SMS account through the gov.uk website. To do this:

Select 'Change Password' to change your password.

Take urgent action to secure your SMS account (see 'Urgently review your SMS account (all sponsors)' below).

Report any suspicious activity on your SMS account (see 'Report suspicious activity on your SMS account' below).

Even if you haven't received a phishing email, the Office requires you to take the following urgent actions to ensure that there has been no unauthorised activity on your SMS account:

The Office recommends that your Level 1 users access the SMS account at least once a month to do the checks set out above. For more guidance, you can access the SMS user manuals here .

Any suspicious activity or concerns your SMS account should be reported to the Office immediately so steps can be taken to secure your data and account. If you are a work route sponsor, you should email [email protected] . If you are a student route sponsor, the email address is [email protected] .

You should provide the Office with the following details:

It is important to be alert to online scams. The Office's advice to minimise the risk to your SMS account is as follows:

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought your specific circumstances.