"IRS Federal Student Tax" Scams

Online Threat Alerts (OTA) - Alerting you to scams and frauds.

"IRS Federal Student Tax" Scams

Taxpayers, be aware of scammers, pretending to be IRS agents, demanding payments for "Federal Student Tax". There is no such tax. The IRS issued a news release warning taxpayers about scammers targeting students and parents by demanding payments for non-existent taxes during the back-to-school season. The scammers will become aggressive and threaten to report students and their families to the police if they do not immediately make payment via MoneyGram, Western Union, Prepaid debit cards, or other untraceable payment methods.

Remember, the IRS will never do the following:

Call to demand immediate payment over the phone, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you several bills.
Call or email you to verify your identity by asking for personal and financial information.
Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card,MoneyGram or other untraceable method.
Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone or email.
Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.

If you get a suspicious phone call or email from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money or other personal information, here’s what you need to do:

Don’t engage with the scammer and do not give out any information. Just hang up.
If you receive a telephone message from someone claiming to be from the IRS and you do not owe tax, or if you are immediately aware that it’s a scam, don’t call them back.
If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be with the IRS, and you owe tax or think you may owe tax, do not give out any information. Call the IRS back at 1.800.829.1040 to find out more information.
You can also contact Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) to report scam calls by calling 1.800.366.4484 or by using the “IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting” form on their website. You may also want to report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by using the “FTC Complaint Assistant” to report persons pretending to be from the government; please add “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.