irs scams

Since the beginning of the pandemic, scammers have only gotten more creative. Let’s discuss some of the tax scams the IRS has recently warned taxpayers about. 2022 Tax Scams At the beginning of February 2022, the IRS published a news release urging taxpayers to stay vigilant and to watch out for these recent tax scams. Some of the big areas of interest this year include text message, email, and phone scams. There’s also been increasing unemployment fraud attempts. Here are some of the tax scams to look out for, and some tips and tricks for determining if a message is legitimate or fraudulent. Phone and Text Tax Scams If you receive a call from the IRS, you probably didn’t receive a call from the real IRS. The IRS doesn’t ever leave intimidating, urgent, or aggressive voicemails for taxpayers. One of the most common tax scams includes a phone call in which the recipient is told that if they don’t act immediately, they will be arrested. Many times, these calls are looking to instill fear and coerce individuals into giving them a credit card number or other information to settle debt quickly so they can avoid court or jail time. Many of the text message scams stemmed from phony requests for the sake of helping the recipient gain access to or confirm a stimulus payment. COVID pushed a lot of normally “unplugged” products, services, and processes into the online sector. That created more opportunities for fraudsters to take advantage of people who are unfamiliar with the latest technology-based updates that have been put in place for tax filing, direct deposits, and so much more. Unemployment Fraud The IRS also warned of unemployment fraud schemes that stemmed from organized crime circles. The victims of this tax scam would receive unemployment or other benefit payment notices sent from the IRS. These forms are filled out on the taxpayer’s behalf by a criminal looking to collect on benefits you never applied for or reported. If you receive …

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