A Tax Scam Guide for Older Adults

By on February 26, 2025

pen laying on a tax form

from the National Council on Aging

Between the hassle of filing a return and anxiety about owing money, tax season is not everyone’s favorite time of year. What makes it even more stressful? The looming threat of tax refund scams.

Tax-related scams are on the rise. In 2023, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation (CI) unit opened 1,409 tax crime investigations and identified $5.5 billion in fraud.1 Older adults are especially vulnerable to these insidious schemes. Scammers know people in this age group often have substantial savings, retirement funds, and Social Security benefits—making them high-value targets.

IRS tax refund scams can take a major financial and emotional toll on those they impact, and they can happen to anyone. Scammers are now using artificial intelligence (AI) and other powerful tools to appear legitimate. These predators are highly skilled at persuading taxpayers to hand over their money and personal data.

Below are four typical signs that could mean you’ve encountered a scammer:

  1. Requests for immediate payment: The real IRS will never demand immediate payment over the phone, email, text, or social media. They only accept payments through official channels like IRS.gov or mailed checks. If someone insists you pay a tax bill via gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency, it’s not the IRS—it’s a scam.
  2. Threatening language: Scammers use aggression to manipulate their targets—but as mentioned above, the IRS does not operate this way. Official tax issues are communicated through letters, not bullying phone calls or text messages. That’s why you should be suspicious of any call, email, or text that threatens arrest, deportation, or lawsuits for unpaid taxes.
  3. Generous refund offers: Sound too good to be true? It likely is. If you receive an out-of-the-blue email or call promising a massive refund you didn’t think you were getting, be wary. Scammers often use this trick to lure people into providing their personal details. The IRS does not contact taxpayers unexpectedly with big refund offers.
  4. Spelling and grammar errors or odd-looking links: Scam emails and fake IRS websites often contain spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, or incorrect URLs (e.g., look for URLs that say “irsgov.com” instead of “irs.gov”).

>>Read the full article for more details and tips to protect yourself

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