

Taxpayers can also report scams to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration or the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Instead, the scams should be reported by sending the email or a copy of the text/SMS as an attachment to The report should include the caller ID (email or phone number), date, time and time zone, and the number that received the message. Individuals should never respond to tax-related phishing or smishing or click on the URL link. It may also be a way for malicious hackers to load ransomware that keeps the legitimate user from accessing their system and files. The IRS never initiates contact with taxpayers by email, text or social media regarding a bill or tax refund.Īs a reminder: Never click on any unsolicited communication claiming to be the IRS as it may surreptitiously load malware.


These messages can arrive in the form of an unsolicited text or email to lure unsuspecting victims to provide valuable personal and financial information that can lead to identity theft, including phishing and smishing.

Taxpayers and tax professionals should be alert to fake communications posing as legitimate organizations in the tax and financial community, including the IRS and states. The IRS and Security Summit partners regularly warn people about common scams, including the annual IRS Dirty Dozen list. And the IRS handles tax refunds, not "unclaimed property." Important reminders about scams 17 the deadline for people on extension for their 2022 tax returns is actually Oct.16, and those owed refunds from last year have time beyond that. This letter contains a variety of warning signs, including odd punctuation and a mixture of fonts as well as inaccuracies.įor example, the letter says the deadline for filing tax refunds is Oct. Once You Send All The Information Please Try to Be Checking Your Email for Response From The Agents Thanks" These Must Be Given to a Filing Agent Who Will Help You Submit Your Unclaimed Property Claim. "You'll Need to Get This to Get Your Refunds After Filing. The letter proceeds for more sensitive information including cellphone number, bank routing information, Social Security number and bank account type, followed by a poorly worded warning:
#Irs scam itunes refund license#
"A Clear Phone of Your Driver's License That Clearly Displays All Four (4) Angles, Taken in a Place with Good Lighting." This includes some awkwardly worded requests like this: The letter tells the recipients they need to provide "Filing Information" for their refund. An unusual feature of this scam is that it tries tricking people to email or phone very detailed personal information in hopes of stealing valuable information. In this new scam, there are many warning signs that can be seen in many similar schemes via email or by text. The Security Summit – a coalition between the IRS, state tax administrators and the nation's tax industry – continue to warn people to protect their personal information to protect against tax-related identity theft as well as scams like this. People should be careful to watch out for red flags that clearly mark these as IRS scams." "These scams can come in through email, text or even in special mailings. "This is just the latest in the long string of attempts by identity thieves posing as the IRS in hopes of tricking people into providing valuable personal information to steal identities and money, including tax refunds," said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. But it also seeks a variety of sensitive personal information from taxpayers – including detailed pictures of driver's licenses – that can be used by identity thieves to try obtaining a tax refund and other sensitive financial information. Like many scams, the letter includes contact information and a phone number that do not belong to the IRS. The enclosed letter includes the IRS masthead and wording that the notice is "in relation to your unclaimed refund." The new scheme involves a mailing coming in a cardboard envelope from a delivery service. WASHINGTON ― The Internal Revenue Service warned taxpayers today to be on the lookout for a new scam mailing that tries to mislead people into believing they are owed a refund.
