April naturally comes with the stress of filing taxes (Tax Day, April 15, is just two weeks away). But unfortunately, tax season also comes with a heightened risk of tax scams. While you may be familiar with phishing scams that arrive via email, smishing is another threat to be aware of. The IRS has recently raised the alarm on evolving tactics like “smishing” and urges taxpayers to remain vigilant against these and similar schemes.
"Scammers are relentless in their attempts to obtain sensitive financial and personal information, and impersonating the IRS remains a favorite tactic,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a release.
The IRS has been combating these fraudulent activities through initiatives like the “Dirty Dozen” campaign. This annual effort is designed to raise awareness and protect taxpayers, businesses, and tax professionals from falling prey to common tax scams.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Be a smarter, better informed investor.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Here is more of what you need to know.
What is smishing?
Smishing, essentially phishing via SMS (short message service, known as text messages), occurs when scammers use text messages to deceive individuals into divulging personal or sensitive information.
- Tax scammers leverage smishing to trick taxpayers into revealing Social Security numbers and financial details.
- These fraudulent text messages often claim urgent issues with taxes or offer enticing refunds, urging recipients to click on malicious links or respond with personal information.
- Scammers often pretend to be someone you trust, such as a family member, friend, or a reliable organization. They use this tactic to trick you or your tax preparer into falling for their scams.
To avoid these scams, verifying the sender's identity before responding to text messages or emails is important. The IRS points out that you can do this by using a different method of communication, like calling a phone number you know to be genuine rather than the one provided in the suspicious email or text message.
Phishing vs smishing
Phishing and SMS scams operate similarly but differ in how the messages are delivered. Phishing typically involves fraudulent emails impersonating legitimate organizations like the IRS. The goal is to get you to click on malicious links or divulge sensitive information.
In certain situations, you may receive phishing emails that appear to come from genuine senders or organizations whose email account credentials have been stolen. The IRS advises setting up two-factor or multi-factor authentication with your email provider to help secure your email account.
On the other hand, smishing scams use text messages, often with alarming language, to prompt you to click on deceptive links or provide personal data. As with phishing, text message scams may also impersonate legitimate organizations.
- The IRS says that one of the most effective ways to protect yourself from phishing and smishing scams is to be skeptical when dealing with unsolicited emails or text messages.
- Be particularly wary of messages claiming to be from organizations like the IRS or state tax agencies, especially if they request sensitive information or threaten legal consequences for non-compliance.
Remember: the IRS never requests personal information via email, text, or social media. So, you should avoid responding to communications that claim to be the IRS or clicking on embedded links that may contain malware.
IRS third-party 'helper' scam
What about “helpful” scammers? The IRS is also warning about third-party “helper” scams. According to the agency, these begin with “swindlers posing as a "helpful" third party who offers to help create a taxpayer's IRS Online Account at IRS.gov.” '
In fact, the offer is being made to steal taxpayer information. The agency is reminding that taxpayers can and should establish their online account through IRS.gov without assistance from a third party.
IRS tax scams: Bottom line
Taxpayers can minimize the risk of falling victim to smishing and phishing scams by staying informed and cautious when it comes to their financial and personal information.
If you receive a suspicious email or text message claiming to be from the IRS, don't interact with the contents of the message, but forward it to phishing@irs.gov. Additionally, if you click on any links or provide confidential information in response to a scam text or email, take steps as soon as possible to safeguard your data.
For more information, see the IRS guide to identify theft.
Related
- Tax Season: Seven IRS Changes to Know Before You File
- IRS Email Scams to Watch Out For
- How to Pay the IRS if You Owe Taxes
- Warning: Watch Out for IRS Refund Mail Scam
-
Capital Gains Tax Quiz: How Well Do You Know IRS Rules for Gains and Losses?Quiz Take our capital gains tax quiz to test your investment taxes knowledge. Learn about loss rules, holding periods, and tax incentives that could impact your savings.
-
6 Tax Reasons to Convert Your IRA to a Roth (and When You Shouldn't)Retirement Taxes Here’s how converting your traditional retirement account to a Roth IRA can boost your nest egg — but avoid these costly scenarios.
-
Capital Gains Tax Quiz: How Well Do You Know IRS Rules for Gains and Losses?
Quiz Take our capital gains tax quiz to test your investment taxes knowledge. Learn about loss rules, holding periods, and tax incentives that could impact your savings.
-
6 Tax Reasons to Convert Your IRA to a Roth (and When You Shouldn't)
Retirement Taxes Here’s how converting your traditional retirement account to a Roth IRA can boost your nest egg — but avoid these costly scenarios.
-
Could Tax Savings Make a 50-Year Mortgage Worth It?Buying a Home The 50-year mortgage proposal by Trump aims to address the housing affordability crisis with lower monthly mortgage payments. But what does that mean for your taxes?
-
3 Ways High-Income Earners Can Maximize Their Charitable Donations in 2025Tax Deductions New charitable giving tax rules will soon lower your deduction for donations to charity — here’s what you should do now.
-
An HSA Sounds Great for Taxes: Here’s Why It Might Not Be Right for YouHealth Savings Even with the promise of ‘triple tax benefits,’ a health savings account might not be the best health plan option for everyone.
-
New RMD Rules: Can You Pass This Retirement Distributions Tax Quiz?Quiz Take our RMD quiz to test your retirement tax knowledge. Learn about RMD rules, IRS deadlines, and tax penalties that could shrink your savings.
-
10 Retirement Tax Plan Moves to Make Before December 31Retirement Taxes Proactively reviewing your health coverage, RMDs and IRAs can lower retirement taxes in 2025 and 2026. Here’s how.
-
When to Hire a Tax Pro: The Age Most Americans Switch to a CPATax Tips Taxpayers may outsource their financial stress by a specific age. Find out when you should hire a tax preparer.
