By AMY RICKER
Great Bend Post
If you’ve received a text from the IRS saying that you need to accept a stimulus payment, do not click that link.
The IRS is warning of the latest stimulus payment scam making the rounds that is stealing your bank information, and a lot of people have already fallen for it.
The text on your cell phone looks like its coming from the IRS that says you have received a direct deposit of $1200 from the COVID-19 Treasury Fund. Continue here to accept this payment followed by a link to click.
IRS Spokesperson Alejandra Castro says when you click on the link, it connects you to a fraudulent website that looks a lot like the real I-R-S dot gov and asks you to fill out the form with your name, social security number, bank routing number, and bank account number. Castro says if you receive this text, the IRS is asking you to take these next steps.
“What you should do if you receive this text scam, you should take a screenshot of the message you received, and send it to [email protected] with the following information: the date, time, the time they received the text message, and the number that appears on the caller I.D.,” explained Castro.
Castro says there has been a dramatic increase in scams and cybercrimes this year due to the pandemic that revolve around the IRS.
“We do not send unsolicited texts or emails. The IRS does not call people with the threat of jail, lawsuits, or that are back-taxes owed on gift cards. We do not call taxpayers at home and demand payments immediately or they will be arrested. Please be on the lookout because it’s easy to fall for these scams because they appear to be so legitimate. But I think if taxpayers have the information then they are a step ahead and won’t fall victims to these scams.”
For more information on this and other phishing, identity theft, and scams, visit IRS.gov.