IRS: Taxpayers and Tax Professionals Should Protect Themselves from Scams, IR-2023-223, IR-2023-224, IR-2023-226, IR-2023-227, IR-2023-229

As the National Tax Security Awareness Week concludes, the IRS emphasized on the ongoing need for taxpayers and tax professionals to stay vigilant against evolving scams throughout the filing season and beyond. Amidst ever-changing tactics employed by identity thieves via email, text, phone, or mail, taxpayers were urged to remain cautious, especially regarding deceptive communications posing as legitimate entities in the tax and financial sector.

Taxpayers need to be vigilant for various red flags that may signal identity theft or a tax scam. Some key indicators include:

• taxpayers receiving a tax transcript in the mail from the IRS that was not ordered;
• taxpayers receiving an unrequested Employer Identification Number; and
• taxpayers receiving W-2’s from an unknown employer;

Further, if taxpayers suspect they are victims of tax-related identity theft and have not received an IRS alert letter, they should promptly submit Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit. Additionally,an IP PIN offers an extra layer of security and can be obtained by visiting the IRS online tool Get an IP PIN. Creating an IRS Online Account ahead of potential scams prevents fraudsters from using stolen personal information to establish an account, ensuring that scammers cannot create a fraudulent account for the same individual.