Security Alert: IRS Warns of New Tax Scams

Security Alert: IRS Warns of New Tax Scams

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a reminder urging consumers to look out for two new variations of tax-related phone and email scams.

The phone scam involves pre-recorded messages threatening to suspend or cancel a victim’s Social Security number, and the email phishing scam involves a fake agency—the “Bureau of Tax Enforcement”—claiming that the victim owes past due taxes.

 

How You Can Protect Yourself And Your Organization:

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) encourages taxpayers to review the IRS Alert and CISA’s Tip on Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks for more information on avoiding tax scams year round.

Here's some tips taken from those pages that we found especially helpful to remember:

Telltale signs of a scam

The IRS (and its authorized private collection agencies) will never:

• Call to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method such as a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer. The IRS does not use these methods for tax payments. Generally, the IRS will first mail a bill to any taxpayer who owes taxes. All tax payments should only be made payable to the U.S. Treasury and checks should never be made payable to third parties.
• Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have the taxpayer arrested for not paying.
• Demand that taxes be paid without giving the taxpayer the opportunity to question or appeal the amount owed.
• Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.

For anyone who doesn’t owe taxes and has no reason to think they do:

• Do not give out any information. Hang up immediately.
• Contact the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to report the call. Use their IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting web page.
• Report the caller ID and/or callback number to the IRS by sending it to phishing@irs.gov (Subject: IRS Phone Scam).
• Report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Use the FTC Complaint Assistant on FTC.gov. Add "IRS Telephone Scam" in the notes.

For anyone who owes tax or thinks they do:

• View tax account information online at IRS.gov to see the actual amount owed. Taxpayers can then also review their payment options.
• Call the number on the billing notice, or
• Call the IRS at 800-829-1040. IRS workers can help.

The IRS does not use text messages or social media to discuss personal tax issues, such as those involving bills or refunds. For more information, visit the Tax Scams and Consumer Alerts page on IRS.gov. Additional information about tax scams is also available on IRS social media sites, including YouTube videos.

Tips on Avoiding Social Engineering & Phishing Attacks

• Be suspicious of unsolicited phone calls, visits, or email messages from individuals asking about employees or other internal information. If an unknown individual claims to be from a legitimate organization, try to verify his or her identity directly with the company.
• Do not provide personal information or information about your organization, including its structure or networks, unless you are certain of a person's authority to have the information.
• Do not reveal personal or financial information in email, and do not respond to email solicitations for this information. This includes following links sent in email.
• Don't send sensitive information over the internet before checking a website's security. (See Protecting Your Privacy for more information.)
• Pay attention to the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of a website. Malicious websites may look identical to a legitimate site, but the URL may use a variation in spelling or a different domain (e.g., .com vs. .net).
• If you are unsure whether an email request is legitimate, try to verify it by contacting the company directly. Do not use contact information provided on a website connected to the request; instead, check previous statements for contact information. Information about known phishing attacks is also available online from groups such as the Anti-Phishing Working Group.
• Install and maintain anti-virus software, firewalls, and email filters to reduce some of this traffic. (See Understanding Firewalls, Understanding Anti-Virus Software, and Reducing Spam for more information.)
• Take advantage of any anti-phishing features offered by your email client and web browser.

 

Review all the latest alerts from our blog..  If you believe you have been a victim of a tax-related scam, visit the IRS webpage on Tax Scams - How to Report Them

For this alert in its entirety, go here.