WASHINGTON — As the new year begins, the Internal Revenue Service reminds taxpayers to protect their personal and financial information throughout the year and watch out for IRS impersonation scams, along with other schemes, that try to trick people out of their hard-earned money.
These schemes can involve text message scams, e-mail schemes, and phone scams. This tax season, the IRS also warns people to watch out for signs of potential unemployment fraud.
“With the filing season underway, this is a prime period for identity thieves to hit people with realistic-looking emails and texts about their tax returns and refunds,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “Watching out for these common scams can keep people from becoming victims of identity theft and protect their sensitive personal information that can be used to file tax returns and steal refunds.”
The IRS, state tax agencies, and the nation’s tax industry – working together in the Security Summit initiative – have taken numerous steps since 2015 to protect taxpayers, businesses, and the tax system from identity thieves. Summit partners continue to warn people to watch out for common scams and schemes this tax season.
Text message scams
Last year, there was an uptick in text messages that impersonated the IRS. These scams are sent to taxpayers’ smartphones and have referenced COVID-19 and/or “stimulus payments.” These messages often contain bogus links claiming to be IRS websites or…
