IRS warns taxpayers of latest mailing refund rip-off

The IRS Alerts Taxpayers to a New Scam Email
This month, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) alerted taxpayers to the existence of a new scam email that aims to trick people into thinking they are entitled to a refund. The letter that is attached boasts of the company’s masthead and indicates that the notice is “in relation to your unclaimed refund.” It arrives in a cardboard envelope from a courier service. The mail asks sensitive personal data, such as pictures of driver’s licences, and contains contact details and a phone number that are not associated with the IRS.
Regarding a bill or tax refund, the IRS never contacts taxpayers via text, email, or social media. This hoax has a number of telltale indicators, including irregular punctuation, a mismatch in fonts, and mistakes. The letter claims that October 17th is the deadline for filing tax refunds; however, October 16th is the date for people who have an extension on their 2022 tax returns. Furthermore, tax refunds—not “unclaimed property”—are handled by the IRS.
The IRS and Security Summit partners, a partnership of the IRS, state tax administrators, and the country’s tax sector, regularly notify people about prevalent frauds, such as the IRS Dirty Dozen list that is released each year.