Notice to Our U.S. BW Team Members:
Protect Yourself From Cybercrime This Tax Season
Since late January, the Internal Revenue Service has been accepting and processing 2025 tax returns. Tax season means scammers will be watching for a chance to grab someone else’s refund or to steal their identity.
AI introduces additional risk:
Due to the rise in AI-driven scams, threat actors have an unprecedented advantage this upcoming tax season. With AI advancements, scams can be nearly indistinguishable from legitimate communications. Scammers are using AI to create ever more sophisticated crimes, and, therefore, you need to be even more vigilant to battle tax fraud.
In addition, people are increasingly turning to AI chatbots for answers to their tax questions. AI can be a powerful tool, but it cannot replace human expertise or interpret complex and ever-changing tax laws. When using an AI tool, validate the answers against credible resources, avoid sharing confidential or identifying information, and review closely for inaccuracies.
Here are some ways to stay protected from tax scammers:
- Don’t click links or respond to SMS text messages or emails that notify you of a tax rebate, a refund payment, delivery of your 2025 tax documents, overdue back taxes or any other such messages from the IRS.
- If you want to confirm a message or a letter from the IRS, call them at 1-800-829-1040.
- File your taxes as early as possible. Doing so can prevent scammers from filing under your name and stealing your refund.
- If you hire a third-party provider to file on your behalf, do your research to ensure they’re trustworthy. It’s a good idea to verify their credentials through the IRS’s Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers with Credentials and Select Qualifications.
- Always protect sensitive accounts with strong, unique passwords.
- When downloading tax documents, save them in a secure location where they can’t end up in the wrong hands.
- Consider asking the IRS for an identity protection PIN (IP PIN) to prevent imposters from filing a tax return using your Social Security number. Learn how to request an IP PIN at this link to the IRS website.
Be aware that the IRS will never:
- Call, email or text to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method, such as a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer. The IRS does not use these methods for tax payments.
- Note: Be vigilant of AI-generative voices in phone calls!
- Threaten to immediately bring in police or other law enforcement groups to have the taxpayer arrested for not paying.
- Demand that taxes be paid without allowing the taxpayer to question or appeal the amount owed.
- Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
