It’s tax season again, which means it’s also time for tax scams. Some tax scams occur when fraudulent tax returns are filed in the victim’s name while other variants occur when the malicious actors call the victim and pretend to be Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents. In addition, there are malicious actors who use the tax season to spread malware and phishing emails.

Tax scams where the malicious actor files the return in the victim’s name include both identity theft and identity fraud, as well as tax fraud. This scenario occurs when the malicious actor finds or receives information about the tax filer, including the filer’s name, address, date of birth, and Social Security Number. The malicious actor then uses this information to file a malicious tax return, citing as many deductions as possible, in order to create as large a tax return as possible.

The other variant of tax scams occur when the malicious actor contacts the victim and tries to convince the victim to do something, such as immediately paying a fine or providing their financial information so a refund can be issued. In these instances the malicious actor uses what they know about the victim, often information gained for a data breach or social networking website, to convince the victim that the caller has access to the victim’s tax information. Frequently during these calls the caller will pretend to be an IRS agent.

In the third type of tax scam, malicious actors use tax related spam, phishing emails, and fraudulent websites to trick victims into providing login names, passwords, or additional information, which can be used in further fraud. Other emails or websites may download malware onto the victim’s computer.

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