ORLANDO, Fla. – As the tax filing deadline approaches, crooks are after your personal information.
That’s the word from the Internal Revenue Service.
We’ve all gotten them: unsolicited text messages and emails, seemingly harmless but secretly after your information.
Former IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel sat down with News 6 and says phishing and smishing schemes top the list of this year’s dirty dozen.
“Which is the top 12 tax scams to be on the lookout for,” Werfel told News 6. “Unfortunately, each and every year, we see more and more tax scams and schemes.”
If it comes in an email, it’s referred to as phishing.
If it comes in a text message, it’s smishing.
Werfel says sometimes, the crooks want as much personal information as possible so they can use it to fraudulently file tax returns and claim refund money that isn’t theirs.
Other times, they want fast money - now.
“It’ll say something like, ‘this is the IRS you owe $4,500. Click here to pay or face significant more penalties,‘” Werfel said.
The IRS never sends links, according to Werfel.
That’s the first red flag, and there are others.
The IRS won’t initiate contact with you by email or social media to request personal or financial information, Werfel said.
“It is our effort to get the word out to taxpayers on what to be on the lookout for in terms of tax scams,” Werfel said.
If you’ve been the victim of a scheme or rip-off, email me at lbolden@wkmg.com.