The Internal Revenue Service has issued an alert warning taxpayers about being the target of back-to-school scammers demanding payment for non-existent taxes such as the “Federal Student Tax.”
People should be on the lookout for IRS impersonators calling students and demanding that they wire money immediately to pay a fake “federal student tax.” If the person does not comply, the scammer becomes aggressive and threatens to report the student to the police to be arrested. As schools around the nation are re-opening, it is important for taxpayers to be particularly aware of this scheme going after students and parents, IRS said.
“Criminals pose as the IRS to trick victims out of their money or personal information,” said IRS Spokesman Mark Green. ”Students and parents, don’t let yourself get involved in a tax scam or be bullied by a Con artists,” said Green.
Scammers are constantly identifying new tactics to carry out their crimes in new and unsuspecting ways. This year, the IRS has seen scammers use a variety of schemes to fool taxpayers into paying money or giving up personal information. Some of these include:
• Altering the caller ID on incoming phone calls in a “spoofing” attempt to make it seem like the IRS, the local police or another agency is calling
• Imitating software providers to trick tax professionals
• Demanding fake tax payments using iTunes gift cards
• Soliciting W-2 information from payroll and human resources professionals
• “Verifying” tax return information over the phone
• Pretending to be from the tax preparation industry
The agency said it will never call to demand a payment using a specific method, will never threaten to bring in local law enforcement or asked for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
Those receiving such a call should contact the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 800-366-4484.
