IRS warns about tax scammers

Now that we’re in tax filing season, scammers are taking advantage of your stress and frustration to steal your identity and your hard-earned money.

The latest scam targets your electronic filing identification number. The IRS says you and your tax professional are most at risk, as scammers can file fraudulent tax returns and steal your refund if they get hold of your client data and tax preparer’s identity.

It usually comes through what looks like a legitimate email, so keep an eye out for anything from an email address like “IRS tax e-filing,” and the subject “Verifying your EFIN before e-filing.” The IRS says one of the red flags is links in the bogus email. If you hover your mouse over the link, it will show the real email address for the scammer.

Individuals and tax professionals who get these scams should save the email as a file and then send it as an attachment to phishing@irs.gov. They also should notify the treasury inspector general for tax administration at tigta.gov to report the IRS impersonation scam.