Tax season is officially here, and with it are tax scams. Common among them are e-mail and text scams meant to look like they come from the IRS and other tax agencies. These scams aim to get your personal information, including your banking information. Some scammers have become successful enough that cybersecurity experts at Securonix have begun tracking them ahead of tax season.
Taxpayers who fall for these scams do so because they received messages claiming outstanding refunds, or in some cases outstanding tax bills. If you ever receive an e-mail or text from what seems to be a tax agency, do not reply or click on any links. Instead, capture a screenshot of the message and send it to phishing@irs.gov. The IRS encourages taxpayers to report these scams in order to make other taxpayers and tax professionals aware of them.
It’s important to know that the IRS initiates contact with taxpayers through mail correspondence. If you suspect that a letter with an IRS letterhead could be a scam, you can always verify its authenticity by calling the IRS directly.
Taxpayers can also create a tax account with the IRS. If you create an account you’ll be able to monitor new account activity and information, and know for sure if the IRS is actually trying to communicate with you. To sign up for a tax account go to https://www.irs.gov/, and click on “Sign in to your account.” If you don’t already have an ID.me account you’ll have to create one.
the Confident Taxpayer 