Beware of Increased IRS-Related Scams

By Michael Stillings September 8, 2023

The number of tax-related scams has been on the rise recently, with identity thieves relying on email and text messages to pose as the IRS to threaten taxpayers, offer a means to collect a refund, or trick recipients into filing illegitimate claims. The IRS shared a number of such scams in a news release recently (IR-2023-131), and here is a rundown of some recent ones you may encounter.

• Economic Impact Payments – These scams promise a new round of impact payments for certain taxpayers and request tax return information from the unsuspecting victim to claim the payment. However, there have been no new pandemic-related federal programs created in some time.
• ERC eligibility – We’ve seen celebrities promoting these scam artists where employers are lured into improperly claiming the employee retention credit through special online offers. In reality, the ERC applies only to taxpayers who meet a very narrow range of criteria, while many believe mistakenly that the qualification criteria is very low.
• Claim your refund online – This scam asks recipients to follow links to claim missing portions of their tax refunds. The real IRS will notify you by mail, or simply send the refund to you.
• Fix tax return issues – This scam offers to help a taxpayer correct a tax return issue that was identified by the IRS. You are encouraged to merely click on a link and provide sensitive information. The real IRS will not ask you to do this – and often doing so will load dangerous malware onto your computer, tablet, or phone.
• Delivery service scam – There is a new snail mail scam that provides a pre-paid envelope to send direct deposit information to receive a missing refund, or requests photos of your driver’s license. In reality, direct deposit information may be provided to the IRS, but it is reported on the face of the return (like Form 1040), optionally, if the taxpayer chooses. And unless you are establishing an “ID.me” account with the IRS, they will not request your driver’s license. (They will not solicit your license; this would come up only as part of you initiating that online service application.)

Although some of them are difficult to discern from the real thing, many of these IRS-related scams are easy to spot, because they are riddled with typos and horrific grammar. In most cases, if the IRS is missing something, they will request it by mail, and they generally provide a reasonable amount of time to respond (generally several weeks). In contrast, scammers often try to instill a panicked response by demanding immediate action. The IRS will never initiate action by email, text, or social media. It is nearly always by mail.

There may be no foolproof way to avoid every scam, but if you are in doubt, feel free to contact your BNN service provider. We see a number of legitimate pieces of IRS correspondence on a regular basis, and may be in a good position to keep you from becoming a victim.

For more information, please contact Mike Stillings or your BNN tax advisor at 800.244.7444.