A phishing scam is often an unsolicited email or a website that looks like a legitimate site designed to trick users. The scams convince people into providing personal and financial information. Scam emails can arrive to personal and work accounts on computers, smartphones and tablets.
Phishing scams often use one or more of these tactics. The scammers:
Thieves do these to trick taxpayers into revealing account numbers and passwords. The thieves secretly download malicious software on to someone’s device to collect personal information. The criminal might also try to fool the recipient into sending money to the scammers.
To avoid this scam, it’s important to remember that the IRS never:
When in doubt, taxpayers can always check the status of their taxes by registering at IRS.gov. From there, taxpayers can check their account balance for the current tax year or any previous tax year with a balance due.
Taxpayers who receive an IRS-related or tax-themed phishing email should forward it to phishing@irs.gov. Taxpayers can also report scam letters and phone calls to phishing@irs.gov as well as the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
If you need tax help from an Enrolled Agent, contact FAS today at admin@fas-accountingsolutions.com or at 832-437-0385.
