07/14/2025
IRS Impersonation Scams - Did You Know?
The IRS recently issued new warnings about ongoing IRS impersonation scams designed to steal people's money, identities or both. The first thing to know about these scams is that the IRS almost always initiates contact with a person by sending a letter through the mail on official letterhead. If you receive an IRS letter and have created an IRS online account, you can log in to your account to check whether the letter is authentic. Otherwise, if you have doubts about a letter you receive, call the IRS at 800-829-1040 for more information.
The IRS does not initiate contact through email or social media messages, and only sends text messages with the recipient's permission, for instance because the person signed up for notifications. If you receive a message supposedly from the IRS promoting mysterious stimulus payments or tax credits, it is almost certainly a scam. Delete the message and do not click any links, as the links typically lead to fake IRS websites created to steal people's tax refunds or personal information.
Finally, when reaching out by phone, IRS employees do not leave aggressive messages threatening people with arrest. They also never demand payment in a specific format, such as prepaid gift cards. If you are unsure about the legitimacy of a phone call supposedly from the IRS, hang up and call an official IRS customer service number for more information.