The IRS, together with its Security Summit partners in state tax agencies and the nation’s tax industry, is reminding taxpayers and tax professionals to take extra steps to protect their financial and tax information during the holiday season. During this time of year, the agency warns, people face the heightened risk of identity theft as criminals ramp up efforts to trick people into sharing sensitive personal information including through email, text message and social media. Identity thieves can use the information to try filing false tax returns and stealing refunds.
“This security week highlights ways for taxpayers and tax professionals to protect themselves against rapidly evolving identity theft schemes to steal tax and other financial data,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “The Security Summit effort is an innovative way that the IRS, the states and the private-sector tax industry work together to protect taxpayers and the tax community. Protecting taxpayers is an important priority for the IRS, and the National Tax Security Awareness Week provides helpful information to taxpayers to help us in the ongoing battle against identity thieves.”
To help raise awareness, the IRS and partners are publicizing the 8th National Tax Security Awareness Week, which kicked off Nov. 27, 2023. The week will focus educating and informing taxpayers and tax professionals on how to avoid scams and protect sensitive personal information.
“The Security Summit has made incredible strides to protect taxpayers across the nation, but identity thieves continue to evolve,” said Peter Barca, who serves as the Federation of Tax Administrators Board of Trustees president and Wisconsin Department of Revenue secretary. “We encourage taxpayers, businesses and tax professionals to remain on guard against these threats, and the information in National Tax Security Awareness Week can help.”
Common ID Theft Schemes
The IRS is warning taxpayers that fraudulent schemes involving email and text messages promising tax refunds or offers to help ‘fix’ tax problems tend to ramp up during the holidays.
One of the schemes currently making the rounds centers on promises regarding a third round of Economic Impact Payments, or stimulus checks. The IRS says that it receives complaints daily about this scam, which has an embedded URL link that takes people to a phishing website to steal sensitive taxpayer information. To be clear, there are no new stimulus checks available—but there may be opportunities to claim refunds tied to previously unclaimed checks. Those who didn’t receive checks, or received the wrong amount, can claim them by filing a tax return and claiming the Recovery Rebate Credit. There are no special links or websites to expedite your refund.
Additionally, the IRS commonly receives reports of emails urging people to “Claim your tax refund online” or text messages indicating that something was wrong with a particular tax return. These scams are riddled with spelling errors and awkward phrasing, but they consistently try to entice people to click on a link. It’s important to remember that the IRS will not initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text or social media to request personal or financial information.
To protect yourself, don’t click on links from questionable sources. If you receive one of these emails, you can report them to phishing@irs.gov.
Gift Cards
The IRS reminds people to be careful of tax-related gift card scams. The IRS does not accept gift cards as payment and will never call taxpayers to threaten lawsuits, arrests, or deportation.
The IRS also refers folks to advice from the Federal Trade Commission to never buy anything from online sellers that only accept gift cards, money transfers through companies like Western Union, or cryptocurrency since payments made that way may be difficult to trace and reverse. Scammers commonly tell people to use those payment methods to pay tax bills so they can get money quickly and then disappear.
Tips For Donating
Requests to help out charitable organizations tend to increase during the holidays, especially on Giving Tuesday (Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023). That means that scammers may also up their game. Here are a few tips to keep in mind to make sure that your dollars get where you intend for them to go:
- Beware of spoofing. Fake charity-related scams usually start by contacting potential donors via telephone, social media, text message, or email. They may alter or “spoof” their caller ID or email to make it look like an actual charity is contacting you. Ask for the charity’s exact name, website, and mailing address so that you can confirm it independently—and avoid clicking through emails, just type in the name or website of the charity directly.
- Use secure methods to donate. Make sure that gifts made by checks or credit card gifts are secure—and don’t send money by text or apps like Venmo without first verifying the organization and the contact information. If you don’t want to donate online or by text, most organizations have donation forms that you can mail together with a check—never send cash through the mail.
- Take a pause. Scammers often try to convince you there’s an urgent need so that you’ll donate now. If you’re not sure that a charity is legitimate, or if you’re feeling pressure to donate, slow down. If responding to a call or in-person solicitation, offer to take down the contact information and follow up.
- Follow-up. If you decide to make a donation, check out the organization’s credentials. Forbes has a list of the largest charities in the US, with details on revenues, fundraising efficiency, and more. And you can always confirm charitable status through the IRS website using their online tool—remember that some organizations, including churches, synagogues, and mosques, may not be on the list, so don’t be afraid to ask for more information.
- Donations to individuals are not deductible. For federal income tax purposes, you can only deduct contributions made to qualified tax-exempt charitable organizations. Donations to individuals are never deductible for tax purposes, even if they really need the help. But there’s a non-tax reason to use caution, too, when donating outside of charitable organizations—it could be part of a scam. Keep in mind that once you hand over the cash, you have no control over how it might be used.
- Don’t give away more than needed. The IRS emphasizes that scammers are searching for money and personal information. Taxpayers should never give out Social Security numbers or PINs, and they should give bank or credit card numbers only after they’ve confirmed the charity is legitimate.
- Keep excellent records. Of course, you should always keep records of all donations for tax purposes. And, asking the organization for documentation is a good way to gauge their responsiveness and legitimacy—if they balk at providing a receipt, consider that a red flag.
Additional Resources
With the rise of texting scams, you can protect yourself by checking out security recommendations for your specific mobile phone by reviewing the Federal Communications Commission’s Smartphone Security Checker.
The IRS also encourages taxpayers to watch out for common tax-related scams. You can get the latest information on scams by following @IRSnews on X (formerly known as Twitter) as well as other official IRS social media platforms, including YouTube.
Finally, the IRS has a Taxpayer Guide to Identity Theft on its website that can help you learn the signs of identity theft and take steps if you think you might be a victim.