Scam of the Week: Realistic Phishing Attacks Take Advantage of U.S. Tax Season

ALERT: Tax season scams are peaking. So, when you get any emails or phone calls about your taxes or W2 forms, verify whether the person sending the email or making the call is legitimate–whether you know them or not.

Here are some tips to stay safe this tax season:

• Manually type the recipient's email address into the "To" field. NEVER make the mistake of clicking on "reply" and attaching your tax information, because the reply email address might be spoofed.
• Triple-check that the email address you are sending it to is correct.
• If you want to be 100% safe, hand-carry your tax information to your preparer and do the tax return in person with them.

Visit the official IRS website to see more tax scams you should watch out for.

Stop, Look, and Think. Don't be fooled.