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.
Alok Ajmera is president and CEO of Prophix Software, a global leader in corporate performance management software.
Sophia Yen is a Senior Principal at EY and the Strategy & Innovation Leader in the Insurance Consulting practice, focused on working with clients to drive profitable growth through strategic ventures, market trends & insights, innovation, and digitization and emerging technologies. She also serves on the EY Americas Insurance Leadership team.
Sophia has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry with deep experience in reinsurance, insurance, banking, disruptive technologies and digital transformation. She has led global initiatives focusing on growth, M&A integrations and separations, integrated business and financial strategy planning, and streamlining target operating models.
Sophia has a unique combination of industry and consulting experiences as she started in consulting and then spent half of her career in the insurance and banking industry before returning to consulting. Some of her notable accomplishments included driving the transformation at UBS Investment Bank where she achieved more than 30 million in cost savings. Prior to UBS, she was at Swiss Re and held several senior leadership roles, including running their Americas Client Solutions team, SVP of Financial Services Origination, Chief of Staff to the CEO and COO and Head of Operations and Reporting, where she was responsible for the strategic financial planning, reporting, and operations of a $2.5+ billion portfolio and was a member of the Americas Executive Committee.
She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor of Science (dual major: Finance & Computer Science) from Boston College and graduated both with high honors. She is a sought-after speaker at industry conferences throughout the Americas, EMEIA, and Asia on such topics as strategic transformation, digital transformation, enabling innovation, culture change, and diversity & inclusion. Sophia lives in Chappaqua, NY with her husband and daughter.
President-elect Joe Biden will seek a deal with Republicans on another round of COVID-19 relief, rather than attempting to ram a package through without their support, according to two people familiar with the matter.
“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.
