As students head to university from next month, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has issued a warning for those taking on part-time work to fund their student lifestyle to be wary of scams.

Birmingham Live reports that for many young people, a part-time job while at university might be their first employment, and their first time interacting with the taxman and may be unfamiliar with what is genuine contact from HMRC, and what constitutes a scam.

Within the last 12 months, almost one million people have reported scams to HMRC, half of which appear to be offering tax rebates, which HMRC does not offer by text message or by email.

The scammers are usually trying to steal money, or personal information to sell to other criminals. Using the HMRC brand adds credibility to the scams.

Links contained in emails or texts can also download dangerous software to computers or smartphones which is then used to collect personal data or lock the user’s machine until a ransom is paid.

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.”

Fell advice for anyone who is contacted by anyone asking for money or personal information is to be wary and that the organisation has seen high numbers of people claiming to be HMRC.

He said that if in doubt, do not reply to anything suspicious, and contact HMRC via GOV.UK and search on the website for ‘HMRC scams’

By June this year, more than 680,000 students had applied to university, and over 900,000 held part-time jobs during the 2020 to 2021 academic year.

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