The Internal Revenue Service has added to its 2022 Dirty Dozen scams warning list, starting off with a reminder that criminals are still using the COVID-19 pandemic to steal people’s money and identity with bogus emails, social media posts and unexpected phone calls, among other things.
Other tax avoidance schemes that the IRS covered in this second release of the 2022 Dirty Dozen list include fake charities, bogus calls, texts, emails and online posts, and identity theft.
The agency stresses that these scams take a variety of forms, including using unemployment information and fake job offers to steal money and information from people. All of these efforts can lead to sensitive personal information being stolen. Scammers often use this data to file fraudulent tax returns.
We covered the first four of the 2022 annual Dirty Dozen tax avoidance schemes in this article earlier in the month.
2022 IRS Dirty Dozen #5 – COVID-19 pandemic scare tactics
A common scam the IRS says it continues to see involves the use of the COVID-19 pandemic. Common examples (covered in more detail below) include Economic Impact Payment and tax refund scams, unemployment fraud leading to inaccurate taxpayer 1099-Gs, and fake employment offers posted on social media.
“Scammers continue using the pandemic as a device to scare or confuse potential victims into handing over their hard-earned money or personal information,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “I urge everyone to be leery of…
