Consumers Targeted In IRS E-Mail Schemes

Posted by Christian Wynns on March 5th, 2016

The IRS has seen an approximate 400% surge in phishing and malware incidents so far this tax season.

The emails are designed to trick taxpayers into responding to official communications that lead to websites designed to imitate official looking websites.  The sites ask for social security numbers and other personal information.  The sites also carry malware which infect computers and allow criminals to access files or track keystrokes to gain information.

“While more attention has focused on the continuing IRS phone scams, we are deeply worried this increase in email schemes threatens more taxpayers,” Koskinen said.

If a taxpayer receives an unsolicited email that appears to be from either the IRS e-services portal or an organization closely linked to the IRS, report it by sending it to phishing@irs.gov.  IR-2016-28.

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