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.
Anna Mittag (LL.B., BCL) is VP of Operations of LifeSpeak, a digital platform that offers employees around-the-clock access to a wide range of topics related to total wellbeing.
William Glasgall is Director of Public Finance at The Volcker Alliance in New York. A four-decade veteran financial journalist, Bill brings to the nonpartisan, nonprofit organization a deep knowledge of state and local government finances and fiscal policies and leads the Truth in State Budgeting and Financial Reporting project that is building on recommendations made in 2013 by the State Budget Crisis Task Force headed by Volcker Alliance Chairman Paul Volcker and former New York Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch. Bill is also senior adviser to the Ravitch Fiscal Reporting Program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in New York.Bill came to the Alliance from Bloomberg News, where he directed U.S. local-government coverage as Managing Editor for States and Municipalities that received awards from the National Press Club Foundation and other organizations. He also served as co-host of Bloomberg’s Global Week Ahead Podcast, as well as Editor-at-Large and Enterprise Editor, and has been a featured speaker at conferences held by Bloomberg, the Bond Buyer, Governing Magazine, Investment Advisor, and TD Ameritrade. Before joining Bloomberg, Bill spent almost 20 years at BusinessWeek Magazine as Senior Writer and Senior Editor, winning two Overseas Press Club prizes for international reporting and heading the magazine’s personal finance and lifestyle sections. He was also a regular commentator and host on the PBS-TV show “This Week in Business,” Editorial Director of the Investment Advisor Group, vice-president at Standard & Poor’s Corp., and a reporter and editor at the Associated Press and the Star-Ledger in Newark, New Jersey.Bill is a Trustee of the Overseas Press Club Foundation and former member of the Board of Overseers of the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship Program in Economics and Business Journalism at Columbia University, where he was a Fellow. He is a graduate of Boston University and lives in New Jersey.
Ajay Vij is senior vice president and industry head of financial services for Infosys.
“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.
