Current IRS Scams

Per the IRS, the following are the top scams effecting the taxpayer:

• New scam mailing related to unclaimed refunds: This is a scam claiming you are due a refund, when you are not, including promising a refund without any prior knowledge of your situation.

• Employee Retention Credit scams: This is a scam from aggressive advertising on who qualifies to receive the credit.

• Filing season scams involving fake Form W-2 wages: This is a scam where you are encouraged to use wage information to file a false return to get a bigger refund.

• Pandemic-related email scams: These are phishing scams attempting to get information from you in exchange for a credit or refund.

• Charity fraud awareness; This is a scam of “criminals soliciting donations and falsely posing as legitimate charities”

• Beware of OIC mills – avoid costly promoters advertising settlement with the IRS for “pennies-on-the-dollar”

• Scam targets educational institutions, including students and staff: This is an IRS impersonation scam to get information from educational institutions, including students and staff who have ".edu" email address.

• Identity theft and unemployment benefits: This scam is criminals seeking to steal taxpayer identities to file fraudulent claims for unemployment compensation.

• IRS: Don’t be victim to a "ghost" tax return preparer: A ghost preparer is someone who doesn't sign tax returns they prepare.

• IRS impersonation telephone scams