IRS Warns of Higher Education Phishing Scam

The United States' Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a warning over an ongoing phishing scam targeting higher education establishments in the United States. 

In a statement released yesterday, the IRS said that it was being actively impersonated over email by cyber-attackers seeking to trick victims into handing over sensitive data.  

Students and staff have received phishing emails directing them to a fraudulent website. The site asks users to provide their Social Security number, full name, date of birth, prior year annual gross income, driver’s license number, address, and electronic filing PIN. 

“The IRS' [email protected] has received complaints about the impersonation scam in recent weeks from people with email addresses ending in '.edu,'" said the IRS. 

“The phishing emails appear to target university and college students from both public and private, profit and non-profit institutions.”

The scam emails display the IRS logo and use a number of different subject lines including "Tax Refund Payment" or "Recalculation of your tax refund payment." 

Recipients are asked to click a malicious link and submit a form to claim a tax refund.

The IRS is asking anyone who receives this scam email to save it and forward it as an attachment to [email protected]. 

“Students and staff are not only dealing with the chaos of the pandemic, but now are being targeted in relation to their tax refunds,” commented Niamh Muldoon, global d ..

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