The IRS is seeing a wave of summer scams mercilessly targeting taxpayers. These include email schemes promising another round of Economic Impact Payments. There is a URL link imbedded in this scam that takes people to a phishing website to steal sensitive taxpayer information.
They have also received reports of emails urging people to “Claim your tax refund online”. It says the taxpayer’s tax return was “banned” by the IRS. Tax returns are never “banned” by the IRS. They can be rejected until an error is corrected, but you will never get that message in a text.
The incorrect verbiage used in these emails, along with poor grammar and awkward phrasing are huge red flags that these are scams. Be aware. The IRS never initiates contact with taxpayers by email, text or social media regarding a bill or tax refund.
The IRS reminds us: “Never click on any unsolicited communication claiming to be the IRS as it may surreptitiously load malware. It may also be a way for malicious hackers to load ransomware that keeps the legitimate user from accessing their system and files”. (IRS.gov)
Another scam involves taxpayers receiving a letter from a delivery service. The letter is in a cardboard envelope and includes the IRS masthead. The wording in the letter says the notice is due to your “unclaimed refund”. Known as the “Delivery Service Scam”, the letter asks the taxpayer to send copies of their Driver’s License and other information used for stealing identities.
These are just some of the active scams currently being perpetrated. For more details, and to see what you can do if you receive one of the scam notifications, check out the “News” section of the IRS website at https://www.irs.gov/newsroom. The IRS updates this section regularly to keep taxpayers informed.