Are you watching out for “smishing” scams? The IRS says you should be because they’re becoming more common. Similar to phishing, smishing lures potential victims with texts that can appear to be from the IRS. Fake texts might offer COVID relief, tax credits or even help setting up an IRS online account. Typically, they ask recipients to click on links that download malicious code to the phone, enabling fraudsters to steal personal and financial information. Recently, the IRS reminded taxpayers that it never sends texts or emails requesting personal information or account numbers. So if you receive a suspicious message purporting to be from the IRS, report it to [email protected].
