Tax Day is April 15th but ahead of that scammers are targeting individuals, so officials are reminding folks to be on the lookout for suspicious messages and phone calls.
With the company Nomorobo, Matt Mizenko says this year, there are three concerning scam targeting individuals. One is a call or message claiming a person can get a one-time IRS payment and another claims to that there’s a tax situation under review and they can help with the balance.
“The worst one we’re seeing is one that calls and says we’re calling to notify you that a criminal case has been registered against you for tax evasion and issue an arrest warrant, and you know if you’re not prepared you can easily get pulled into one of those scams.”
He adds in the age of technology, another major concern is how artificial intelligence (AI) is being used by fraudsters to create a narrowed profile.
“Maybe somebody in a specific region with a specific income and with a specific credit score, things like that and they’re basically turning AI lose on the internet to say go find me all of the information on people that fit this profile so when they do contact you, by phone or text, it presents a very creditable package of information to you.”
Activity with key words like Internal Revenue Service jumped in January by 400% for calls and 50% in messages.
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