IRS, States and Tax Industry Warn of Last-Minute Email Scams

The Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies and the tax industry today warned both tax professionals and taxpayers of last-minute phishing email scams, especially those requesting last-minute deposit changes for refunds or account updates.

As the 2017 tax filing season winds down to the April 18 deadline, tax-related scams of various sorts are at their peak. The IRS urged both tax professionals and taxpayers to be on guard against suspicious activity.

The IRS doesn't initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information. This includes requests for PIN numbers, passwords or similar access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts.

The IRS also suggests that tax professionals change and strengthen their own email passwords to better protect their email accounts used to exchange sensitive data with clients.

Remember: never open an attachment or link from an unknown or suspicious source. It may infect your computer with malware or steal information.

For more information refer to this IRS link for further instructions on what to do when dealing with phishing/online scams:
https://www.irs.gov/uac/report-phishing