Coming in at number two on the IRS Dirty Dozen list is scammers using email and text messaging to trick people, more commonly known as phishing and smishing. It is important that taxpayers remain vigilant against email and text messaging scams aimed at tricking taxpayers about refunds or tax issues. Phishing and smishing schemes happen when cybercriminals try to steal a taxpayer’s information through scam emails or text messages.
Phishing and smishing seem to make the IRS Dirty Dozen list year after year. “Scammers will regularly pose as the IRS, a state tax agency or others in the tax industry in emails and texts,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “People should be incredibly wary about unexpected messages like this that can be a trap, especially during filing season.”
With more awareness around the issue, tax professionals are trying to help prevent taxpayers from risk of losing money, personal data and more. It is important for taxpayers to avoid getting hooked by phishing emails and smishing text messages.
- Phishing is an email sent by cybercriminals claiming to be the IRS or another legitimate organization, including state tax organizations or a financial institution. The emails usually lure a victim into the scam by a plethora of hooks such as enticing victims with a phony tax refund or frightening them with false legal/criminal charges for tax fraud.
- Smishing is a text message that uses a similar technique as phishing. Scammers use alarming language like, “Your account has been put on hold,” or “Unusual Activity Report” with a false “Solutions'' link to restore the taxpayer’s account. Unexpected tax returns are also a potential target for scammers.
It is important to note the IRS and the Colorado Department of Revenue will contact taxpayers through regular mail and will never initiate contact by email, text messaging or social media regarding a bill or tax refund. Never click on any unsolicited communications claiming to be the IRS as it may load unwanted malware onto your device. It could also be a way for malicious hackers to load ransomware that keeps the legitimate taxpayers from accessing their system and files.
As with any phishing or smishing attempts, taxpayers should never respond to the emails, text messages or click on any or the URL links attached. Any tax-related scam attempts should be reported to the IRS by sending the email or copy of the text message as an attachment to phishing@irs.gov. It is helpful if the report also includes the caller ID (email or phone number), date, time and time zone, as well as the number or email that received the message.
For more information about telephone and email taxpayer scams, view our webpage at https://tax.colorado.gov/tax-scam-alerts.