UNITED KINGDOM – Phishing warning issued by the Home Office for sponsor licence holders.

July 22, 2025


By: Jaana Hennessy, Senior Immigration Manager

Earlier this month the Home Office circulated an email alerting to phishing scams via email which could lead to Sponsor Management System (SMS) accounts being compromised.

These scams are becoming more frequent and often involve e-mails seemingly from the Home Office alerting you to a message on SMS with a warning of compliance action or suspension of your account if you fail to log in. These emails provide a link to “log in”. The victim is then asked to provide their username and password which may be captured to gain access to the genuine online SMS account.

The scam e-mails are often sent to a shared mailboxes that are scraped from organizations’ websites.

Be aware that the Home Office will only ever send email communications relating to Sponsor Licences to the email addresses provided for the key personnel. Any electronic communications relating to your sponsor licence from the Home Office will come via one of the following official channels:

  • An email address ending @homeoffice.gov.uk’ @fco.gob.uk; or @fcdo.gov.uk
  • The Account Management Portal (AMP)
  • On the message board of your SMS account

The Home Office will never contact users to ask you for, or to verify, SMS user ID or password. Nor will they never provide a link or password with which to log into SMS.

How to report.

Should you receive an email or telephone call that doesn’t seem genuine, or you have concerns that your SMS account has been compromised, you can report it to:

Be alert to online scams.

  • Don’t click on links asking you to verify credentials or to log into SMS
  • Never share your SMS login details (username and password) with anyone
  • Change your SMS password regularly and make your password strong and long
  • Don’t use the same password if you have access to more than one SMS account
  • Remember to deactivate Level 1 and Level 2 users if they leave or change roles in your organization
  • Make sure your contact details, telephone number, and email address are up to date
  • Always have at least one, and preferably two, active Level 1 users
  • If you think your SMS account has been compromised immediately change your password and advise other Level 1 and Level 2 Users in your organization to do the same

If you are unsure if any correspondence you received is genuine or not please report immediately or reach out to one of our team members. We would be delighted to assist and offer guidance.

This immigration update is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal or scenario-specific advice. Furthermore, it is important to note that immigration announcements are subject to sudden and unexpected changes. Readers are encouraged to reach out to Newland Chase for any case- or company-specific assessments.