07 Aug Beware of new scam claiming to be the IRS and “unclaimed Refunds”
WASHINGTON ― The Internal Revenue Service warned taxpayers today to be on the lookout for a new scam mailing that tries to mislead people into believing they are owed a refund.
The new scheme involves mail coming in a cardboard envelope from a delivery service. The enclosed letter includes the IRS masthead and the wording that the notice is “in relation to your unclaimed refund.”
Like many scams, the letter includes contact information and a phone number that do not belong to the IRS. But it also seeks a variety of sensitive personal information from taxpayers – including detailed pictures of driver’s licenses – that can be used by identity thieves to try obtaining a tax refund and other sensitive financial information.
“This is just the latest in the long string of attempts by identity thieves posing as the IRS in hopes of tricking people into providing valuable personal information to steal identities and money, including tax refunds,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “These scams can come in through email, text or even in special mailings. People should be careful to watch out for red flags that clearly mark these as IRS scams.”
The Security Summit – a coalition between the IRS, state tax administrators and the nation’s tax industry – continues to warn people to protect their personal information to protect against tax-related identity theft as well as scams like this.
In this new scam, there are many warning signs that can be seen in many similar schemes via email or by text. An unusual feature of this scam is that it tries tricking people to email or phone very detailed personal information in hopes of stealing valuable information.
The letter tells the recipients they need to provide “Filing Information” for their refund. This includes some awkwardly worded requests like this:
“A Clear Phone of Your Driver’s License That Clearly Displays All Four (4) Angles, Taken in a Place with Good Lighting.”
The letter proceeds for more sensitive information including cellphone number, bank routing information, Social Security number and bank account type, followed by a poorly worded warning:
“You’ll Need to Get This to Get Your Refunds After Filing. These Must Be Given to a Filing Agent Who Will Help You Submit Your Unclaimed Property Claim. Once You Send All the Information, Please Try to Be Checking Your Email for Response from The Agents Thanks”
This letter contains a variety of warning signs, including odd punctuation and a mixture of fonts as well as inaccuracies.
For example, the letter says the deadline for filing tax refunds is Oct. 17; the deadline for people on extension for their 2022 tax returns is actually Oct.16, and those owed refunds from last year have time beyond that. And the IRS handles tax refunds, not “unclaimed property.”