Don’t Take the Bait
With each tax season, scammers and fraudsters become more sophisticated in their methods to rob you of your tax refund, your personal information, and your sanity. The IRS, the state tax boards, and the entire tax industry are working together to prevent taxpayers from being caught up in these schemes.
“Whether it’s during the holidays or the approach of tax season, scam artists look for ways to use tax agencies and the tax industry to trick and confuse people,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “There are warning signs to these scams people should watch out for, and simple steps to avoid being duped into giving these criminals money, sensitive financial information or access to computers.”
What should you be on the lookout for? And what are warning signs that something may not be legitimate?
(1) The IRS and state tax boards will never call (or text) and demand an immediate payment. They will not threaten to put you in jail, nor will they ask for payment to be made in the form of gift cards. They will not ask for credit card, debit card, or bank account information over the phone.
Generally, the IRS will mail you a bill (via snail mail) if you owe any additional taxes. They will not initiate contact for a past due tax bill via e-mail, text, or phone. They will not demand that you pay taxes without first giving you the opportunity to formally question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
(2) The IRS and state tax boards will not call to ‘verify’ your tax information, social security numbers, dates of birth, or banking information. If there is a question about any information on your return, they will notify you via snail mail.
(3) If you prepare your own tax return using tax software, be leery of links in e-mails that appear to be from your tax software provider. If you receive an e-mail asking you to click a link to log in to your account to verify information, do not click the link. Most often, the email is a phishing attempt and will collect any information you enter via the link. (Also, be leery of phone calls from your tax software provider for the same reason.)
If you receive an e-mail or phone call from your tax software provider, log on to your account through the company’s website and verify that everything is okay. If you are still in doubt, contact the tax software’s customer service department. Scammers have gotten very good at replicating correspondence from software providers.
If you are on the receiving end of one of these scams, it is best to report it through the proper channels even if no damage was done. Tax authorities and software providers rely on this reporting in order to educate others of potential schemes.
- All unsolicited email claiming to be from the IRS should be reported to phishing@irs.gov.
- Phishing attempts from your software provider should be reported directly to the provider.
- If you receive a phone call, e-mail, or other contact purporting to be from the IRS and have either suffered financial loss or loss of personal information, report it to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). Their online reporting form can be found here: https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml
- More information on reporting IRS Phishing and Online Scams can be found here: https://www.irs.gov/uac/report-phishing
Most often, taxpayers are able to spot a scam and avoid being caught up in it. However, sometimes that moment of panic when faced with a sudden, unexpected tax debt doesn’t allow for rational thought. Never impulsively give out information or click links without stepping back and thinking about it for a minute. It’s simpler to check things out in advance than to spend years trying to recover your hard-earned money or a stolen identity.