Don’t fall for these IRS and charity scams

By Roxanne Bland
Posted on February 17, 2026

Scammers have become more sophisticated, especially those that use artificial intelligence (AI)-generated fake websites, emails and texts that are convincing to the undiscerning — and sometimes even the discerning — eye.

The IRS is warning that email addresses might be spoofed, communications might contain realistic-looking case numbers, and caller-ID masking on phone calls can fool many.

Even worse? Phone scams are sometimes carried out using “deepfake” AI voice software, where the generated voice sounds like a real person.

To help protect yourself, watch out for three of the most common IRS scams.

Gift card scams

Requests for gift cards are a common tactic. Gift card scams might involve a fraudster contacting a taxpayer via email, text or via social media, posing as an IRS official.

The scammer might:

Demand immediate payment to resolve a fake tax liability
Call or leave a voicemail informing the victim they’re linked to criminal activity
Harass a taxpayer into paying a fictitious tax or penalty under threat of arrest or deportation

Victims are told to purchase gift cards to satisfy the amounts supposedly “owed.” The scammer then instructs the taxpayer to provide the gift card number and PIN.

To protect yourself, remember the IRS will never demand immediate payment of taxes by gift card. The federal tax agency will mail an official letter, including a statement of tax liability, to those who owe taxes.

Fake charity scams

When it comes to charities, scammers pretend to be or to represent legitimate nonprofits such as the Red Cross or Salvation Army, pressuring would-be donors to give quickly.

If the donor gives, the money never reaches the charity; it goes into the scammer’s pocket.

To avoid being taken advantage of, always:

Ask the fundraiser for the charity’s exact name, website and mailing address to independently confirm the information. Then use the IRS’ Tax-Exempt Organization Search tool (TEOS) to verify if an organization is a legitimate tax-exempt charity.
Resist being pressured. There’s no need to rush. Legitimate charities are happy to get a donation at any time.
Never give more information than what is needed. Treat your personal information like cash, and hold it close.
Never donate to a charity that requests charitable donations via gift card, peer-to-peer apps, cryptocurrency or wire transfer. If payment is requested in any form other than check or credit card, it’s a scam.

Phishing and smishing scams

With the use of generative AI, fake emails, texts and websites seem more credible than ever before.

As Kiplinger has reported, in a “phishing” scam, fraudsters send an email to trick people into revealing sensitive or personal information.

“Smishing” serves the same purpose, except the scammer sends the message via text.

Scammers impersonate tax authorities to steal personal and financial data. Sometimes they demand money, but not always.

Don’t click on links or attachments. That can compromise your computer or phone by installing malware that searches for personal and financial data on your computer’s hard drive.

If you’re unsure, call the phone number posted on the IRS website to verify.

How to report scams

Unfortunately, scammers are a scourge we must live with. The best defense we have is to stay vigilant by keeping up our electronic security protocols, staying informed about events that might affect us, and reporting any scam we encounter to the IRS.

To report IRS impersonation scam calls, call (800) 366-4484 or forward the email directly to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.

For text messages, forward the suspicious message to 7726 (SPAM) to alert your carrier, then forward the sender’s number and message content to phishing@irs.gov with the subject line “Text.”

If it’s a social media scam, send the full website address of the phony profile to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov with the subject line “Social media.”