We at B&J Bookkeeping & Taxes love to warn all of our clients on the latest scams looking to make life and business miserable. They can range from Amazon to basic payment to scams that seem to be from the one and only IRS. This particular one takes advantage of the latter. Below we will show you why should beware of the small business IRS email scam.
What is the IRS Email Scam?
This particular scam uses your personal, business, or other email to contact you regarding some official sounding business with the IRS. You may owe money, they may owe money to you, or something else all together. But it is all a scam.
This particular IRS scam promised economic payments to our small business thanks to recent COVID stimulus laws. Although it attempted to come from an irs.gov email, it actually came from: promag-XXXX@XXX.rXXXKXXXXy.com with a subject of “Third Round of Economic Impact Payments Status Available.
It continued:
.ܿܿnܿoܿrܿeܿpܿlܿyܿܿ-mailer@iܿrܿsܿ.ܿgܿoܿvܿܿ
Dear Tax Payer(the IRS knows your name), We hope this message finds you well. We are writing to inform you about an important matter regarding your recent tax return filing.
Our records indicate that we have received your tax return for the fiscal year 2023. However, upon review, we have identified certain inconsistencies or missing information that require your attention and clarification.
You will receive a tax refund of (some amount from hundreds to thousands), We will process this amount once you have submitted the document we need for the steps to claim your tax refund.
Date : Friday, 14 July 2023
Sender : INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
To expedite the process and avoid further delays or penalties, we advise you to confirm the required document now .
For your convenience, we recommend not using a prepaid card (we’ve never heard of the IRS doing this, but scammers LOVE prepaid cards), because sending funds does not support this card
Questions? We’re here to help. Call us at 1-800-659-29XX | TTY/TDD: 1-800-977-83XX
Office of Disaster Assistance
U.S. Small Business Administration.
How to Avoid The IRS Email Scam
See those weird characters under the “noreply” email? We didn’t put them there. They were in the email itself, further lending evidence this is a scam. Remember that the IRS rarely to never emails you directly. Even in those cases, it is from an email such as john.smith@irs.gov. However, even these emails can be faked. Rest assured the official initial contact generally will come from an official IRS letter through the post office. But we always recommend you contact the IRS via it’s official site, phone number, or a local office when you suspect they have contacted you. However, you may not have the time to do so, especially as a small business owner. We recommend contacting your bookkeeper before responding to any correspondence alleging to come from the IRS.
Small Business Bookkeeping in Houston
One of the best ways to avoid these IRS Email scams and many others is with the use of a bookkeeper for all your income and outgoing expenses. We are experts in protecting your hard earned funds by avoiding scams like this. Feel free to B&J Bookkeeping to learn more about our small to medium sized business bookkeeping services.
