IRS warns students, staff of email scam

The Internal Revenue Service is warning university students and staff of an ongoing IRS impersonation scam targeting educational institutions, with email subject lines such as “Tax Refund Payment.”

The IRS’ phishing@irs.gov has received complaints about the  scam in recent weeks from people with email addresses ending in “.edu.”  The suspect emails display the IRS logo and asks people to click a link and submit a form to claim their refund. The phishing website requests that taxpayers provide their Social Security Number, first and last names, date of birth and other information.

Students and staff who receive this scam email should report it to the IRS. For security reasons, save the email using “save as” and then send that attachment to phishing@irs.gov or forward the email as an attachment to phishing@irs.gov.

Taxpayers who believe they may have provided attackers with this information should consider immediately obtaining an Identity Protection PIN, a six-digit number that helps prevent identity thieves from filing fraudulent tax returns in the victim’s name.

Taxpayers who believe they have a pending refund can check on its status at “Where’s My Refund?” on IRS.gov.