The Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division in St. Louis sent out warnings Friday to taxpayers about a new wave of COVID-19-related scams as the agency delivers the second round of Economic Impact Payments.
"For more than half a year, IRS-CI has seen a variety of Economic Impact Payment scams and other financial schemes designed to steal money and personal information from taxpayers," David Talcott, acting special agent in charge in St. Louis, said in a news release. "Criminals are taking advantage of the second round of Economic Impact Payments - as well as the approaching income tax filing season."
Talcott said some common COVID-19 scams include:
Text messages asking taxpayers to disclose bank account information under the guise of receiving the $1,200 Economic Impact Payments.
Phishing schemes using email, letters and social media messages with key words such as "Coronavirus," "COVID-19" and "stimulus" in varying ways. These communications are blasted to large numbers of people and aim to access personally identifying information and financial account information (including account numbers and passwords).
The organized and unofficial sale of fake at-home COVID-19 test kits (as well as offers to sell fake cures, vaccines, pills, and professional medical advice).
Fake donation requests for individuals, groups and areas heavily affected by the disease.
Bogus opportunities to invest in companies developing COVID-19 vaccines while promising that the "company" will dramatically increase in value as a result.
"We want to remind citizens that the IRS does not send unsolicited texts or emails," Talcott said. "The IRS does not call people with threats of jail or lawsuits, nor does it demand tax payments on gift cards."
COVID-19 scams should be reported to the National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or submitted through the NCDF Web Complaint Form. The NCDF is a national coordinating agency within the Department of Justice's Criminal Division whose goal is to improve the detection, prevention, investigation and prosecution of criminal conduct related to natural and man-made disasters and other emergencies.
Taxpayers can also report fraud or theft of their Economic Impact Payments to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Reports can be made online at TIPS.TIGTA.GOV.
Taxpayers who receive unsolicited emails or social media attempts to gather information that appear to be from either the IRS or an organization closely linked to the IRS, should forward the message to [email protected].
To learn more about COVID-19 scams and other financial schemes visit IRS.gov.