The Internal Revenue Service is warning tax professionals this week of the latest efforts to steal tax information. The latest scam is an email that uses the IRS logo and warns recipients their accounts have been put on hold and they must take action.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
