Tax scams becoming more sophisticated with artificial intelligence

Tax season: Scammers targeting people rushing to do taxes

Hey there procrastinators, your tax return is due on April 18! But beware, scammers are capitalizing on your rush to get it done and they're using artificial intelligence to do it. FOX 26's Heather Sullivan shares some smart sense on how to avoid being scammed.

HOUSTON - If you haven't filed yet, tax returns are coming due soon. The deadline is April 18 this year due to Emancipation Day.

And the IRS and cybersecurity experts warn that scammers are zeroing in on taxpayers who may be rushing to get it done.

U.S. consumers lost more than $5.8 billion to fraud in 2021, a 70% increase over the previous year, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Cyber experts say that could top $10 billion this year as scammers are stepping up their game by using artificial intelligence.

"We are reaching out to inform you the IRS is filing a lawsuit against you," a scammer says in a recorded call displayed as a warning on the Michigan Attorney Genera's website.

"Right now, we’re seeing a lot of phishing, phone-based scams from these confidence guys," explained Felix Simmons, Principal Security Architect at cybersecurity company GuidePoint.

Simmons says now scammers are using artificial intelligence to write more realistic-looking phishing emails and text messages, impersonating the IRS, tax preparers, or tax prep companies, and may have more of your personal information that has been scraped off the internet.

"Their emails historically have had misspellings, bad grammar, things like that. ChatGPT is allowing them to have very clean emails. Because of that, they're starting to look more genuine," said Simmons.

Simmons says scammers are also creating websites that look like real tax software platforms.

"They’re hijacking the search results on Google and other search engines to get themselves to show up as an official link. They’re putting out ads. The scammers are putting out ads that link back to their sites," he explained.

Tax tips to boost, speed up refunds

The tax deadline is fast approaching and you have two weeks left to file. They're due on April 18 this year. FOX 26's Consumer Reporter Heather Sullivan has some tips when it comes to filing this year.

But click on these links, and scammers can steal your identity and your tax refund.

Here are steps to avoid these tax scams:

Know that the IRS won't send you emails or text messages, or ask for payments by gift card.
Bookmark the link to the real tax prep site you use, and open it from that link.
Get a PIN from the IRS. Scammers won't be able to access your account without it.
Use antivirus software on your computer.
And store your docs on a removable drive or encrypted cloud storage.

MORE FROM SULLIVAN'S SMART SENSE

Here's another scam to watch out for, check-washing. Many people who owe taxes will put a check in the mail in the next few days.

But banks are warning that they're seeing a resurgence in check-washing. That's when someone steals your check, washes the ink off of it, and writes in different payees or amounts.

"They will steal from mailboxes and use solvents to remove the proper name on a check and fill it in with another payee. If you have major payments, you may want to drop them off directly at the post office, rather than leave them in your mailbox street side for pickup," explained Chris Furlow, President of the Texas Bankers Association.

MORE: You missed the tax deadline. Now what?

You can avoid check-washing by using Direct Pay on IRS.gov.

If you have already fallen victim to a tax scam, you can report it through these links:

Internet Crime Complaint Center
US Treasury Inspector General Fraud Hotline

For people receiving tax refunds this year, we asked financial experts for good uses for the money during high inflation or in case of a possible recession: