How to protect yourself and avoid being a victim
The IRS has warned that financial scams are on the rise. Decrease your chances of becoming a target by knowing what to watch for. Scammers may contact you via phone, email, text or social media and then impersonate the IRS to make you think there is a problem with your return.
Spotting the most common tax scams
Common strategies include:
- Using false phone number or accounts to mimic a legitimate text or call from the IRS
- Adopting fear tactics, such as suggesting your tax return has an error or that you owe a large sum of money or penalty, as well as pressing you to take urgent action to address these issues
- Instructing you to provide unusual payment methods such as gift cards, money transfers, or cryptocurrency to pay your taxes.
- Asking you to share personal information to facilitate your refund.
Three tips to safeguard against tax scams
- The IRS always initiates contact about any tax issues with a letter on official IRS letterhead. They will never contact you by phone, text, email, or social media.
- Don’t give your personal information to anyone contacting you via phone calls, texts, emails, or social media.
- You can verify the legitimacy of any communication you receive using the published IRS phone number: 1-800-829-1040
If you are targeted by a scammer, do not respond
Visit the IRS for instructions on reporting tax scam attempts and report fraud to the Federal Trade Commission or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP.
TIAA is here to help
Learn how TIAA protects your security and confidentiality at the TIAA Security Center, and explore videos and other resources about protecting yourself from scams.
