’Tis the season for filing taxes, and unfortunately that means that tax scams are also underway.
In the latest scheme, scammers are texting people about a stimulus check in order to get them to give up their personal information, according to a new alert by the Better Business Bureau, a nonprofit that tracks bad advertisements and customer complaints in North America. As of 2025, the BBB has received about 40 reports of this scam.
Upon first glance, the text appears legitimate.
“You are eligible to receive a $1,400 Economic Impact Payment. Please provide your accurate personal information. We will deposit the amount into your bank account or mail a paper check within 1 to 2 business days,” the scam text reads while including a fraudulent IRS link.
Melanie McGovern, the BBB’s director of public relations and social media, said the scam is insidious because it is based on real IRS payments taxpayers may have heard about in the news. They are trying to get you to think, “Oh, I have money coming. I should probably look into this,” McGovern said, so you click the erroneous link.
There is some truth to this kind of offer. In December, the IRS said it would be issuing automatic payments to anyone who was eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax return and did not claim their stimulus check during the pandemic. The maximum payment was up to $1,400 per individual. But payments went out to the bank account listed on the taxpayer’s return in most cases by January 2025, so the window has passed.
Here’s what you should know about the scam and what you should do if you get this text.
The Biggest Red Flag An IRS Stimulus Check Text Is A Scam
The easiest way to tell if that IRS text is a scam is, well, receiving the offer or message as a text. The real IRS will never text you about a bill, refund or unexpected windfall.
As the federal agency itself states, “The IRS doesn’t initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information. This includes requests for PIN numbers, passwords or similar access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts.”
In other words, it is normal to get news about your tax refund by mail, but it is not normal to receive unsolicited communication from the IRS by phone. If the IRS needs to get in contact with you, they will typically first send a letter by USPS.
What To Do If You Receive Suspicious IRS Texts
IRS impersonation schemes are tricky, because they sound legitimate at first glance. But there are immediate steps you can take to ensure you do not get fooled.
Verify the source.
In the stimulus check scam, the fraudulent link of https://www.irs.gov-instructions.com was used. “They make that URL look so close” to the real IRS website, McGovern said, but know that IRS websites end in .gov, not .com.
The IRS will also mail tax filers legitimate notices and letters related to balances, refunds and questions about returns, and you can confirm if the IRS letter is legitimate by looking up the type of letter you got on the official IRS website.
Report fraud.
If you did click on a link for an alleged stimulus check, you might have downloaded malware by accident, so use your computer’s built-in tools like Windows Defender to scan for malware and viruses. If you did share banking details, call your bank to check for fraudulent transactions or security breaches.
And if you see this kind of text, report the scam to authorities. Before you delete the suspicious text, send a screenshot of the text as an attachment to [email protected].
To be most helpful, include details like the caller ID, email or phone number that sent this message, and the date, time and phone number that received the scam message, the IRS suggests.