The Internal Revenue Service has alerted financial institutions to the proper handling of erroneous federal tax refunds resulting from an emerging fraud scheme that could affect thousands of people across the country.
Merely a month into the start of the 2018 filing season, the IRS identified a new scam in which cyber-criminals have stolen client data from tax professionals and filed fraudulent refunds using real taxpayer information, including bank account and routing information for direct deposit.
The fraudster then contacts the taxpayer posing as an employee of a debt collection agency working on behalf of the IRS. They ask the taxpayer to take certain steps to return the refund, but actually the refund goes to the criminals.
TNConnect would like to remind our members – if you receive an erroneous IRS tax refund (not belonging to you), or if the IRS has contacted you regarding an erroneous refund which has posted to your account, please contact Member Services at (865)688-2424. TNConnect will work on your behalf to get this refund returned properly to the IRS.