IRS warns of phone scam targeting students

The Internal Revenue Service issued a warning Friday about the latest scam involving phone calls from people claiming to be IRS agents.

In the scam, callers demand students pay a fake “federal student tax,” and if they don’t wire money quickly enough, the scammers threaten to inform the police, the IRS said.

“These scams and schemes continue to evolve nationwide, and now they’re trying to trick students,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said in a news release. “Taxpayers should remain vigilant and not fall prey to these aggressive calls demanding immediate payment of a tax supposedly owed.”

Phone scams are a big issue for the IRS. The topic has come up frequently in congressional hearings, and many lawmakers have said that they have received calls from IRS impersonators. 

Other tactics that scammers have taken this year include demanding that victims pay them with iTunes gift cards, asking victims to “verify” personal information and pretending to be representatives of the tax-preparation industry, the IRS said.

Earlier this week, five people were arrested in Miami for their alleged roles in IRS phone scams.