"The holiday shopping season and the fast-approaching tax season create a tempting target for identity thieves and scam artists," said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. "Taxpayers sh

Phishing/Smishing – Phishing emails or SMS/texts, known as “smishing,” attempt to trick a recipient into clicking a suspicious link, filling out information or downloading a malware file. These types of emails are often sent to large groups, like a business.

The Internal Revenue Service is warning taxpayers and tax professional to look out for suspicious emails and text messages that could be from fraudsters as tax filing season nears.

Since 2015, the IRS and the Security Summit have used this week to warn taxpayers and tax professionals to protect their sensitive information while shopping.

The Internal Revenue Service and its Security Summit partners issued a warning Monday, urging taxpayers to exercise extra caution during holiday shopping to avoid falling victim to identity theft scams.