Students at risk from tax scams

MANY TAKING PART-TIME JOBS FOR FIRST TIME COULD BE VULNERABLE

STUDENTS taking part-time jobs are at increased risk of falling victim to scams, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is warning.

Higher numbers of students going to university this year means more young people may choose to take on parttime work.

Being new to interacting with HMRC and unfamiliar with genuine contact from the department could make them vulnerable to scams.

In the past year, almost 1 million people reported scams to HMRC.

Nearly half of all tax scams offer fake refunds, which HMRC does not offer by text or email. The criminals involved are usually trying to steal money or personal information to sell on to others.

Links or files in emails or texts can also download dangerous software on to a computer or phone. This can then gather personal data or lock the recipient’s machine until they pay a ransom.

Between April and May, 18 to 24-year-olds reported more than 5,000 phone scams to HMRC.

Mike Fell, head of cyber security operations at HMRC, said: “Most students won’t have paid tax before, and so could easily be duped by scam texts, emails or calls either offering a ‘refund’ or demanding unpaid tax.

“Students who will have had little or no interaction with the tax system might be tricked into clicking on links in such emails or texts.

“Our advice is to be wary if you are contacted out of the blue by someone asking for money or personal information.

“We see high numbers of fraudsters contacting people claiming to be from HMRC.

“If in doubt, our advice is do not reply directly to anything suspicious, but contact HMRC through gov.uk straight away and search gov.uk for ‘HMRC scams.’”

By June, more than 680,000 people had applied to university and more than 900,000 students held part-time jobs during the 2020-21 academic year.