The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division issued a warning Thursday about a new wave of COVID-19 scams tied to the latest round of stimulus payments, especially targeting taxpayers in the District of Columbia.
The warning comes amid heightened tension in Washington after a riot last week at the Capitol that left five people dead and scores of people injured and led to an unprecedented second impeachment of President Trump on Wednesday. Washington is also bracing for possible protests next week around the time of the inauguration of President-elect Biden. National Guard troops have amassed at the Capitol to protect it.
The new COVID-19 scams echo some of the same schemes seen last year when the previous round of Economic Impact Payments was sent to taxpayers. However, in the last several months, the IRS’s CI unit said it has seen a variety of EIP scams and other financial schemes with the goal of stealing money and personal information from taxpayers. Criminals are taking advantage of the second EIP round, along with the impending tax-filing season, to trick honest taxpayers out of their money.
Doug Dennerline is chief executive officer at Betterworks.
Cliff Rosenthal retired from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau but is best known to CUs as the former CEO of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (now nown as Inclusiv).
Stanley Keller is senior partner at Locke Lord LLP who focuses his practice on corporate and securities laws. He chaired the ABA’s Federal Regulation of Securities Committee during the height of the Sarbanes-Oxley era and in that role interacted on behalf of the private bar with the SEC, other governmental officials and the stock exchanges. He served as Chair of the ABA’s Legal Opinions Committee and is currently leading the effort to establish a statement of nationally recognized opinion practices. He also was Chair of the ABA’s Audit Responses Committee. He was active in the ABA’s Task Forces dealing with SEC Attorney Conduct Rules, Corporate Responsibility and Attorney-Client Privilege. As a member of the ABA’s Corporate Laws Committee, he was Special Reporter for the 2016 Revision of the Model Business Corporation Act and before that was Co-Chair of the Task Force that drafted the Massachusetts Business Corporation Law. He also Chaired the Boston Bar Association’s Business Law Section and Corporation Law Committee.
“IRS-CI wants to make sure all residents of the District are aware of the potential scams to help prevent them from becoming victimized,” said Kelly R. Jackson, special agent in charge of IRS-CI's Washington, D.C., Field Office, in a statement. “Please stay vigilant of potential scammers looking to steal your personal information and your money.”
Some of the common COVID-19 scams seen by IRS-CI agents include:
- Text messages asking taxpayers to disclose bank account information under the guise of receiving the $1,200 EIPs;
- Phishing scams using email, letters and social media messages with key words such as “coronavirus,” “COVID-19” and “stimulus” in different ways — these communications are sent to large numbers of people and aim to access personally identifying information and financial account information (including account numbers and passwords);
- The organized and unofficial sale of fake at-home COVID-19 test kits (along with offers to sell fake cures, vaccines, pills and professional medical advice regarding unproven COVID-19 treatments);
- Fake donation requests for individuals, groups and areas heavily affected by COVID-19;
- Bogus opportunities to invest in companies developing COVID-19 vaccines while promising that the “company” will dramatically increase in value as a result.
Taxpayers who get unsolicited emails or social media attempts to gather information that appear to be from either the IRS or an organization closely linked to the IRS should forward the message to phishing@irs.gov. The IRS is encouraging them not to communicate with potential scammers online or over the phone.
