Scammers prepare to target Arizona taxpayers
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - Tax season is fast approaching. And experts warn scammers are gearing up to steal your critical personal information. “There are millions of dollars every year, that fall victims to these scams, and so it’s a really huge problem,” Kimberly Palmer told On Your Side.
She’s from Nerd Wallet and says oftentimes victims are tricked into giving out their tax information. “They reach out to taxpayers claiming that they urgently need their personal information, their financial information because you owe taxes, fees, penalties. But of course, none of that is true!”
The IRS says scammers trick people in many ways. Sometimes it comes in the form of a text with bogus links claiming to be from the IRS or other tax services. Another common phishing technique is a fraudulent email that appears to be from the IRS or a program closely linked to it. The IRS says if you receive an unsolicited text, take a screenshot of it and include the screenshot in an email to phishing@irs.gov. Make sure you tell the IRS the date, time, and time zone you received the message. And the phone number that received the text message.
Remember to never click on links or open attachments from unsolicited, suspicious or unexpected text messages. Jacob Channel is with LendingTree and says, “Any time anyone reaches out to you saying that they’re from the government or from some official organization, just verify. They’re probably not.” Channel says if you think you’ve been conned by scammers, reach out to your bank and the IRS as quickly as possible. “The longer you wait, the harder it’ll be to get your money back to you.”
Remember, the IRS will never send you messages on social media or through text or email. However, if you owe money to the IRS, they’ll contact you by mail.
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