Wherever there is money to be had, scams are sure to follow. As another round of stimulus checks are being discussed in Washington, a new scam has appeared.
It asks you to provide bank account information "so you can get that $1,200 payment," said IRS Spokesman Raphael Tulino. "It's not how we're doing business by asking you through a text."
A few versions of the scam exist, but commonly this is done through a text that says a payment is ready to be sent to your account.
"This $1,200 could be yours if you click on this link and provide us with the information to give you your money," said Tulino. "The transfer of money probably won't go the way you want it to."
Tulino says be very skeptical of messages like this and consider how you received it.
"The IRS does not do business with random texts," said Tulino. "Under no circumstances is the IRS texting you, calling you or emailing you out of the blue demanding or threatening something."
If you do get one of these messages, Tulino says you should ignore it and can even report it to the IRS.
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"Leave it alone, ignore the things, delete your emails, hang up the phone, delete the text and just be on with it," said Tulino. "You'd assume they might do some bad things with your good name so be careful."
These scams are not new and will likely change when another financial topic is being discussed.
"A refund, a stimulus, a probe, a survey, whatever is in the news or is current to get you to fall prey because 'it's the IRS reaching out,'" said Tulino. "If we hear about just a small bit of something we want to get our there in front of it as quickly as we can."
