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.
Acacia Parks, Ph.D., is chief scientist at Happify, a digital wellness company. Park’s research focuses on self-help methods for increasing happiness via books and digital technology, with an emphasis on objective and observable outcomes such as physical health indicators. She received her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where her graduate research helped build the foundation for research on bringing happiness interventions to the general public. She regularly publishes articles in scientific journals, has edited three books and is also associate editor at the Journal of Positive Psychology. When she isn't doing research with Happify, she is an associate professor of psychology at Hiram College.
Deepen Desai is the vice president of security research and operations at Zscaler. He has more than 15 years of experience in security research and the analysis of advanced threats.
Amit Unde, CTO, Insurance, LTI, leads LTI’s Insurance Solutions Office and Enterprise Architecture Practice in North America. He has almost 20 years of experience working with insurance companies across the globe. He has a blend of technology and insurance domain expertise, and has helped leading carriers, brokers and reinsurance firms in defining their Enterprise Architecture and IT Strategy Roadmap. Amit specializes in Commercial Underwriting and Risk Management Solutions, and has been at forefront of leveraging modern technologies such as Location Intelligence and Big Data Analytics, for better risk selection and pricing.
“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.
