On 12/2/24, the IRS, along with its Security Summit partners, issued an IRS Consumer Alert and cautioned taxpayers to exercise heightened vigilance during their holiday shopping, as scammers are actively seeking personal information from potential victims. This IRS Consumer Alert marks the beginning of the ninth annual National Tax Security Awareness Week, which provides valuable tips for both taxpayers and tax professionals to help them avoid scams and safeguard their sensitive information. This initiative is part of the Security Summit, a collaborative effort involving the IRS, state agencies, the tax industry, tax professionals, software developers, payroll and tax financial product processors, and financial institutions. Total membership includes forty-two state agencies and twenty-four industry offices in addition to the IRS aimed at protecting taxpayers and the integrity of the tax system from identity theft.
The IRS Consumer Alert alert serves as a crucial reminder from the IRS and its Security Summit partners as scams continue to trick taxpayers. Since 2015, the IRS and the Security Summit have advised taxpayers and tax professionals on safeguarding their sensitive information while engaging in online shopping or checking emails and texts. This is especially pertinent during the holiday season and the lead-up to tax season, periods when criminal activity tends to increase. The partners of the Summit persist in emphasizing the importance of security and awareness, aiming to assist taxpayers in protecting their personal, financial, and tax information from identity thieves who exploit this data to submit fraudulent tax returns.
Extracts from the IRS Consumer Alert that provide Safety Tips for protection from data thieves:
- Shop at online sites with web addresses that begin with the letters “https:” the “s” stands for secure communications. Also look for a padlock icon in the browser window.
- Don’t shop on unsecured public Wi-Fi in places like a mall or restaurant.
- Ensure security software is updated on computers, tablets, and mobile phones.
- Watch out and help protect the devices of family members who may not be technologically savvy, a wide range that goes from young children to older adults.
- Make sure anti-virus software for computers has a feature to stop malware, and that there is a firewall enabled to prevent intrusions.
- Use strong, unique passwords for online accounts.
- Use multi-factor authentication whenever possible.
Extracts from the IRS Consumer Alert that provide Protective Steps against email scams:
- Phishing/Smishing – Phishing emails or SMS/texts (known as “smishing”) attempt to trick a recipient into clicking a suspicious link, filling out information or downloading a malware file. Often phishing attempts are sent to multiple email addresses at a business or agency, increasing odds that someone will fall for the trick.
- Spear phishing – This is a specific type of phishing scam that bypasses emailing large groups at an organization, instead identifying potential victims, and delivering a more realistic email known as a “lure.” These types of scams can be trickier to identify since they don’t occur in large numbers. They single out individuals, can be specialized and make the email seem more legitimate. Scammers can pose as a potential client for a tax professional, luring the practitioner into sharing sensitive information.
- Clone phishing – This is a newer type of phishing scam that clones a real email message and resends it to the original recipient pretending to be the original sender. The new message will have either an attachment that contains malware or link that tries to steal information from a recipient.
- Whaling – Whaling attacks are very similar to spear phishing, except these attacks are generally targeted to leaders or other executives with access to large amounts of information at an organization or business. Whaling attacks can target people in payroll offices, human resource personnel and financial offices as well as leadership.
Best to be informed to protect yourself against scams and protect your personal sensitive data
Don’t be a victim of identity theft.
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