IRS Notice E-mail Scam

The IRS has just announced a new scam that involves e-mails with falsified tax bill attachments.  These scams should be easy to spot because the IRS will never send you a statement via e-mail.  If the IRS does send you a tax bill, it will always be via mail.  Taxpayers or tax professionals who receive this scam email should forward it to phishing@irs.gov  and then delete it from their email account.

IRS Newswire Issue Number IR-2016-123 provides further information on this matter stating:

​Generally, the scam involves an email that includes the fake CP2000 as an attachment. The issue has been reported to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for investigation.

The CP2000 is a notice commonly mailed to taxpayers through the United States Postal Service. It is never sent as part of an email to taxpayers. The indicators are:

• These notices are being sent electronically, even though the IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email or through social media platforms;
• The CP 2000 notices appear to be issued from an Austin, Texas, address;
• The underreported issue is related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requesting information regarding 2014 coverage;
• The payment voucher lists the letter number as 105C.

The fraudulent CP2000 notice included a payment request that taxpayers mail a check made out to “I.R.S.” to the “Austin Processing Center” at a Post Office Box address. This is in addition to a “payment” link within the email itself.

​IRS impersonation scams take many forms: threatening telephone calls, phishing emails and demanding letters. Learn more at Reporting Phishing and Online Scams.