IRS warns of child tax credit scams

The Internal Revenue Service is warning taxpayers about child tax credit-related scams, which criminals may use to steal money and personal information.

While millions of American families started receiving the advance child tax credit payments, contained in the Biden Administration’s economic recovery legislation, criminals were already looking for innovative tactics to take advantage of unwitting victims, authorities said.

Taxpayers should be on the lookout for a variety of phone, e-mail, text message and social media scams targeting families eligible for the credit.

The IRS warned that any communication offering assistance to sign up for the child tax credit or to speed up the monthly payments is likely a scam. When receiving unsolicited calls or messages, taxpayers should not provide personal information, click on links, or open attachments. Doing so, officials said, could lead to money loss, tax-related fraud and identity theft.

“Scammers never stop, and they will assuredly be trying to use the advance child tax credit payments as an opportunity to swindle honest citizens,” Joleen Simpson, acting special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, said in a statement. “To avoid falling victim to these fraudsters, people should always stay on guard and be leery of unsolicited calls requesting money or their personal information.”

Although scammers constantly come up with new schemes to catch taxpayers off guard, officials said, there are simple ways to identify if it is truly the IRS reaching out:

• The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers via e-mail, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information, even information related to the child tax credit.

• The IRS does not leave prerecorded, urgent or threatening messages. Aggressive calls warning taxpayers about a lawsuit or arrest are fake.

• The IRS will not call taxpayers asking them to provide or verify financial information so they can obtain the monthly child tax credit payments.

• The IRS will not ask for payment via a gift card, wire transfer or cryptocurrency.

If you are eligible for advance payments of the child tax credit, the IRS will use information from your 2020 or 2019 tax return to automatically enroll you for advance payments.

Taxpayers do not have to take any additional action. Taxpayers who are not required to file a tax return or who have not provided the IRS their information, may visit IRS.gov/childtaxcredit2021 to provide basic information for the child tax credit.

To report suspicious IRS-related phishing and online scams, visit IRS.gov.