January 14, 2020

How Taxpayers Can Avoid Phishing Scams

With the start of a new year, all taxpayers should continue to be wary of phishing scams.

Phishing scams often take the form of unsolicited emails, phone calls or letters. The intention of these scams is to convince recipients to provide personal and financial information, send the scammers money or secretly download malicious software onto their devices.

Common tactics of phishing scams include:

• Posing as a bank, government agency or tax professional
• Telling the recipient to open a link in an email or download an attachment
• Telling the recipient to log in to a fake but familiar and convincing-looking website

 And with the tax return season coming up, phishing scammers may even pose as the IRS. In order to stay aware of phishing scams posing as the IRS, please note that there some things the IRS will never tell taxpayers to do, such as threaten immediate involvement of and arrest by police or other law enforcement.

IRS-related or tax-themed phishing scams can be reported to phishing@irs.gov.

For an expansive list of what the IRS will never do and more information on phishing scams, please see the relevant IRS Tax Tip or News Release for more information.

Please also feel free to contact us if you need any assistance related to this matter.