Another tip in a series provided by the Offices of Information Security, Information Systems & Computing and Audit, Compliance & Privacy

Income taxes are due in the United States on April 18, 2023. Many already find tax season a stressful time—don’t let it also be a time when you get scammed.

Since your income taxes are due at a specific time and involve money, it’s easy for scammers to exploit this sense of urgency and people’s confusion to take advantage of you.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) never contacts taxpayers via email, SMS/text, or social media to solicit personal or financial information or account numbers. In some rare cases, they may try by phone, but only after repeatedly failing to contact you via postal mail.

The IRS does not solicit tax payments via text or social media. They do not accept tax payments in the form of gift cards or cryptocurrency.

Several common scams invoke the name of the IRS to frighten and intimidate taxpayers:

• Scammers may make phone calls or send emails to pose as someone claiming to be from the IRS.
• Scammers might state that the IRS has issued a fine or judgment against you.
• Scammers may even issue a threat that you will be arrested, and that law enforcement is on the way.

The IRS does not operate this way; it does not arrest people for non-payment of taxes and does not send law enforcement to your home or workplace.

The Internal Revenue Service is always working to stop scams. Their website contains more information about how to recognize and report scam phone calls, emails, and SMS/text messages: https://www.irs.gov/privacy-disclosure/report-phishing.

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For additional tips, see the One Step Ahead link on the Information Security website: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/news-alerts#One-Step-Ahead.