Individuals with .edu email addresses are the target of an IRS-impersonation scam. Recently, the Internal Revenue Service warned of a scam that appears to target university college students and employees from public and private, profit and non-profit institutions.
The scam emails display the IRS logo and use subject lines such as “Tax Refund Payment” or “Recalculation of your tax refund payment.” It requests users to click a link and submit a form to claim their refund. Included on the form is a request for social security number, driver’s license number, date of birth, electronic filing PIN among other identifying information.
The status of an email refund can be verified from “Get Your Refund Status” on IRS.gov.
If you receive this scam email do not click the link, but report the scam to the IRS. For security reasons, forward the email as an attachment to phishing@irs.gov.
If you believe you have provided scammers with this information consider immediately obtaining an Identity Protection PIN; a voluntary opt-in program. The IP PIN is a six-digit number designed to prevent identity thieves from filing fraudulent tax returns in your name.
If you attempt to e-file your tax return and find it rejected because a return with your SSN has already been filed, file a Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit, to report yourself as a possible identity theft victim.
Source: IRS warns university students and staff of impersonation email scam, retrieved March 30, 2021.
