Those who receive the messages should save the email as a file and then send it as an attachment to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Tax professionals should also report the scam to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at www.tigta.gov to report the IRS impersonation scam. 

There are variations of the emails but they contain subject lines such as "Action Required: Your account has now been put on hold” and claim to be from a tax preparation application provider. One version says there has been a report of unusual activity in accounts.

Emails contain links that take recipients to a website that displays the logos of several tax software preparation providers. Clicking on a logo activates a request for the tax prepaper’s account credentials.

“If recipients enter their credentials into the pop-up window, thieves can use this information to file fraudulent returns by using credentials that were provided by the tax professional,” an IRS press statement notes.

Emails contain statement such as the following:

Your account has now been put on hold                                                                                                                                                                                                ALL preparers are required to apply security feature to their Tax Pro account towards 2021 Tax Returns processing;                                                                           You have failed to apply new update before expiry date;                                                                                                                                                                          You are restore and update your account immediately;                                                                                                                                                                       Please Click Here to update your account now.                                                                                                                                                                                Important;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Failure to update your account within the next 24hours will lead to you account being terminated and be barred from filing tax returns claims for 2021 tax season Your access will be restored once you have updated your details.

Sincerely,

IRS.gov eServices

Bob Scott

• Email

Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards.  Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He  has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that.  A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind