Nope, the IRS Is Not Texting You: 7 Smart Ways to Avoid T…

Fraudsters love tax time almost as much as the IRS does. Protect your identity and your money by learning how to spot scam calls, phishing texts, and other perils. As if filing your taxes wasn’t stressful enough, tax season also entails watching out for scamm…

As if filing your taxes wasn’t stressful enough, tax season also entails watching out for scammers trying to trick you into giving up your personal information and your money. That means, from now through the April 15 filing deadline, you may receive a lot more calls, emails, or texts from people posing as government officials or tax service representatives. There's good news, though: you have the power to stop tax scammers in their tracks, but you may need to change your online habits first.

Tax scams come in many forms, but links sent with legit-looking text messages are a tried-and-true way for scammers to get your information, your money, or both. To see how scammers pull off these crimes, I spoke to Michael Bordash, a scam expert at Syniverse who runs a fraud-prevention YouTube channel. He sent me examples of SMS-based scam attempts and said that the types of fraud his team encountered most often started with a text and a link indicating that your tax return was ready.

As seen below, a link indicating access to tax refund money is also a prevalent scam message: The messages all contain links paired with a call to action. The links may even include a Google URL redirect to circumvent anti-spam measures. These links will take you to professional-looking websites. "It looks like the IRS website in some instances," Bordash explained. He noted that fake websites often include forms that request your name, address, Social Security number, and other vital information.

He said the scammers request "basically everything criminals need to steal your identity." Some scam websites even request a victim's credit card number under the pretense of sending a tax refund to pay off a credit or debit card balance. These messages and websites are the latest in a long-running phishing epidemic. The IRS even has a phishing warning page that includes frequently asked questions about contact from the organization.

Scammers can also generate deepfakes, or AI-generated audio and video of real people, like celebrities, politicians, public officials, and even your family and friends, to make their calls and text messages more believable. According to research from F-Secure, a well-known cybersecurity company, the most recent online scams involve AI-generated content. Bordash told me that the key to fending off scammers is to arm yourself with facts and recall them before reacting.

So now that you know what to look for, here are seven tips for keeping safe online during tax time: If the IRS or anyone claiming to be from a tax authority calls you, hang up! Likewise, if you receive a text claiming you owe tax money to the government, ignore it. It's a scam. The IRS and Social Security offices do not cold-call or text private citizens. Instead, US government entities communicate with taxpayers via email or snail mail.

People from the IRS and Social Security agencies are far more likely to contact you via a card or letter sent to your physical address when there are problems with your account, or you owe money. Online scamming uses psychological and technical tools to take advantage of a victim's fears or insecurities. That's why these criminals try to get people to respond to text quickly by offering limited-time discounts for early tax payments, or threatening people with incarceration for failure to pay up.

Don't respond, and don't give in to their demands. Remember, this is likely a scam in progress, and to scammers, time is always money. When you meet their deadlines with silence, the scammer (who may be an AI agent) will move on. I've written about this before, and I'll say it again: if you don't recognize the caller, don't answer your phone. Spam callers are prolific, so it may be easier to let the calls from numbers you don’t recognize go straight to voicemail. If you have an iPhone, go to Settings and silence all unknown callers.

You can also filter your text messages, so texts from numbers outside your contact list will go straight to a separate folder. For more advice, read our guide to blocking and silencing scam calls. This advice is often presented as "stop oversharing", but that's not really what it's about. Instead, use caution before providing any information about yourself to a stranger who asks about your taxes over the phone or via text messages.

This includes anyone who calls you and identifies themselves as an IRS agent. If you need to speak to an IRS agent by phone, call the official hotline at 800-829-1040. Several apps in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store are designed to stop scammers before they trick you out of your money or personal information. We have a list of the best third-party apps for blocking unknown callers, including Hiya, RoboKiller, and Truecaller.

Many top antivirus products include phishing protection, which can help you identify phishing links before you give away key info like your bank account details or social security number. Neil J. Rubenking is PCMag's principal security writer, and he tests antivirus products throughout the year using rigorous phishing tests. When I asked for his opinion on the best options for tax scam prevention, he said, "If you're vigilant, you can spot most phishing frauds on your own, but missing just one can give fraudsters access to your important accounts.

The best antivirus tools steer you away from phishing sites, even on days when you're less alert. McAfee and Webroot are among the antiviruses that routinely ace our hands-on phishing protection test." Bordash told me that a relative of his stopped a scam in progress by doing one thing: picking up the phone and calling someone he trusted for a second opinion. When Bordash saw the screenshots of his relative's conversation, he correctly identified the scam and shut it down.

Consider telling a trusted friend if you think you are caught up in a scam. That goes the other way, too. If you see a family member or friend becoming a victim of a scam, try to help before they lose everything. "It's always hard to understand how much you want to surveil your loved ones," said Bordash. "It goes back to education and conversation, saying these things are happening." If you aren't sure if a voicemail or text message is legit, let someone you trust take a listen or a look.

Sometimes, two heads are better than one. If you think you’ve been a victim of a tax-related scam, unfortunately, there aren't a lot of ways to find justice. While the FTC and other government agencies accept complaints about online scams, these scams often originate overseas, so it's unlikely you'll get any financial or legal recourse. However, with a little preparation, you can protect yourself from identity theft in the future.

Read PCMag's suggestions for creating a cybersecurity checklist to improve your online habits and avoid future scam artists. Stay vigilant and avoid giving out personal information online, especially regarding your taxes or cryptocurrency investments. And good luck filing your taxes on time! Remember, the 2026 US taxpayer deadline is Wednesday, April 15.

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