Why?

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Newswire yesterday warned of an ongoing IRS-impersonation scam that appears to primarily target educational institutions, including students and staff who have “.edu” email addresses.

Impact

The phishing emails appear to target university and college students and employees from both public and private, profit and non-profit institutions. The subjects generally include "Tax Refund Payment." Further information is below in Details.

Action Needed

Please review the details below.  WPI community members who receive this scam email should not click on the link in the email, but they can report it to phishing@wpi.edu and phishing@irs.gov. 

Details

Phishing Message Details:

The suspect email messages:

  • Display the IRS logo.
  • Use various subject lines such as “Tax Refund Payment” or “Recalculation of your tax refund payment.”
  • Ask people to click a link and submit a form to claim their refund.

The phishing website that the link leads to requests taxpayers provide their:

  • Social Security Number
  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Date of Birth
  • Prior Year Annual Gross Income (AGI)
  • Driver's License Number
  • Current Address
  • City
  • State/U.S. Territory
  • Zip Code/Postal Code
  • Electronic Filing PIN

Take Action:

WPI community members who receive this scam email:

  • Should not click on the link in the email.
  • Report it to phishing@wpi.edu and phishing@irs.gov.

Taxpayers who believe they may have provided identity thieves with this information should consider immediately obtaining an Identity Protection PIN (Actions). This is a voluntary opt-in program. An IP PIN is a six-digit number that helps prevent identity thieves from filing fraudulent tax returns in the victim’s name. 

Taxpayers who attempt to e-file their tax return and find it rejected because a return with their SSN already has been filed should file a Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit, (Actions) to report themselves as a possible identity theft victim. See Identity Theft Central (Actions) to learn about the signs of identity theft and actions to take. 

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