Experts Warn of Tax Scams With Delayed Deadline

The tax deadline came and went and now is the time when scammers see confusion and opportunity.

“It’s like Christmas for scammers right now. This is as good as it’ll ever get for them,” said Rob Davis, the founder and CEO of Critical Start, a cybersecurity firm. He told Channel 2 Anchor Wendy Corona with a trillion dollars out there for individuals and companies, scammers are out for their share.

“They’re preying on the instincts of good people that maybe are a little bit confused, that doesn’t want to confront the government. If you’ve ever had one of these calls happen to you, they can be pretty intimidating,” said Davis.

His best advice — do not engage. You may get calls, texts, social media messages all aimed at getting you to make contact or click a link and that’s when they strike and steal your information. It’s especially rampant around the normal tax deadline date of April 15th. Some scammers will even send you fake checks.

“It’ll say, ‘Hey if something is wrong on this check call this number.’ The whole goal is to use the check as mechanisms to get you to call somebody so they can steal your information,” Davis said.

Davis warned that the IRS will not text you or aggressively force you to take urgent, immediate action. He also said avoid clicking any links and instead check everything against the IRS.Gov website. “Pause. Take a deep breath. Get some help. Come back to it later. There’s nothing wrong waiting a day. Always be suspicious,” he warned.

The new tax deadline is July 15th and you are not required to file an extension or pay anything until that date.