WASHINGTON —The Internal Revenue Service working with the Security Summit partners announced on Dec. 3 that the 10th National Tax Security Awareness Week began this week to raise awareness about tax-related identity theft and scams as the holidays and the upcoming tax season approach.

 The Security Summit is coalition of the IRS, state tax administrators, tax software companies, the tax professional community and others in the larger tax community, organized to combat tax-related identity theft through a public-private sector partnership that strengthened internal protections and raised awareness about security threats.

 “With the holiday shopping season underway and tax season quickly approaching, we are urging taxpayers and tax professionals to take extra steps to protect their financial and tax information,” said IRS CEO Frank Bisignano. “During this holiday season, people face the heightened risk of identity theft as criminals ramp up efforts to trick people into sharing sensitive personal information: identity thieves might use this information to try filing false tax returns and stealing refunds.”

The work of the Security Summit to strengthen internal systems and share information across the tax system about fraudsters continues to show results. Since its inception, the work of the Security Summit has helped protect millions of taxpayers against identity theft and prevented billions of dollars from being wrongly paid out to fraudsters.

As the IRS and the Summit partners have strengthened their systems, identity thieves have increasingly turned their attention to stealing underlying tax and financial information from taxpayers, businesses, and tax professionals in hopes of slipping authentic-looking tax returns through the defenses.

The IRS and Summit partners continue to focus on combating identity thieves and their increasingly sophisticated scams. Identity thieves often impersonate the IRS and others in the tax community using fake emails, texts and online scams. These schemes frequently use recent tragedies or imitate charitable groups to coax people into sharing sensitive financial data, which can lead to tax-related identity theft.

There has been an increase of these activities on social media, including inaccurate tax advice that continues to mislead taxpayers. To help counter this, many of the Security Summit partners have joined together to form the Coalition Against Scam and Scheme Threats. This group will be increasingly active during the upcoming tax season.

A key tool in identifying and defending against these identity theft scams is the Identity Theft Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which was developed by the IRS and Security Summit partners to better identify and coordinate against fraudsters. As the group has strengthened defenses inside the tax system to spot emerging scams, identity thieves continue to look for new ways to obtain sensitive personal financial information to file fraudulent tax returns, making tax professionals and the sensitive tax information of their clients a target for scam artists.

Focus Areas

The IRS and Security Summit partners want taxpayers, tax professionals and businesses to be extra aware during the upcoming holiday season for the threats listed below.

• Social media scams: Bad tax advice on social media can mislead taxpayers about their credit or refund eligibility. Influencers may convince taxpayers to lie on tax forms or suggest the IRS is keeping a tax credit secret from them. Social media posts may put taxpayers in touch with scammers.
• Phishing and smishing: The IRS frequently warns against phishing emails and smishing texts, which are common tactics used by criminals to steal personal and financial information. The impersonator wants taxpayers to send them money. Opening links and attachments may harm their computer.
• Protection for seniors: Scammers target people over age 65 or nearing retirement for personal or financial information or money. Often, once seniors give them money, they ask for more. When scammers trick them to withdraw from their retirement account, it could affect their taxes.
• Protections for businesses and tax professionals: The IRS reminds tax professionals of their legal obligation to have a Written Information Security Plan and to use multi-factor authentication. Businesses are also advised to update their security measures and remain vigilant against cyberattacks.
• Identity Protection PIN: An identity protection PIN is a six-digit number that prevents someone else from filing a tax return using a taxpayers Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number. If taxpayers don't already have an IP PIN, they may get an IP PIN as a proactive step to protect themselves from tax-related identity theft. Anyone with an SSN or an ITIN can get an IP PIN including individuals living abroad.

 More resources

For more information on preventing tax information theft, visit Security Summit.

 Victims of identity theft can visit Identity Theft Central.

Find additional information at Tax Scams.

Get reliable tax information from the following trusted sources:

• Follow IRS on social media.
• Visit an IRS walk-in center.
• Talk to a trusted tax professional.