Got a text about money from the IRS? Scammers posing as the Internal Revenue Service target people in a variety of ways, including phone calls and emails. These scammers often threaten arrest, confiscation of property or other dire consequences if the victims don’t provide their personal information and pay up. Thousands fall prey to these scams every year, losing millions of dollars. The scams also tend to target older people and immigrants.
Do you get a text message about tax refund?`
In a new text message scam, fraudsters are attempting to steal taxpayers’ bank account information under the guise of an Economic Impact Payment as part of the COVID-19 appropriations bill. This type of phishing attack typically happens after people receive a direct deposit refund and are asked to disclose their bank account information by an unsolicited text message or email.
A real IRS agent will never contact you via email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information. The IRS will send you a letter before any other form of communication, such as a phone call or email, and that letter will have one of the official IRS notice numbers in the upper right corner of the page.
If you get a suspicious text or email from someone claiming to be from the IRS, don’t click on links in the message. That could download malware or ransomware on your device. Instead, report the incident to the IRS using its identity protection page. You can also visit the Federal Trade Commission’s identity theft page for more tips.
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