One of my clients forwarded me a letter they believed was sent by the IRS. The letter purports to be IRS Notice CP53E. The notice states that the IRS couldn’t direct deposit the taxpayer’s Form 1040 refund.
The real IRS Notice CP53E is sent to taxpayers when incorrect or incomplete bank account information was entered on a tax return. The legitimate notice provides a secure way to update your bank account online within 30 days of the notice. An authentic notice also states that, if no action is taken, a paper check will eventually be issued, but the refund will be delayed because it takes longer to process a check.
The fake notice appears amazingly identical to the real notice but states the taxpayer has 30 days to provide the IRS with a new or updated account number and provides a QR code to access the taxpayer’s online account. The QR code is not legitimate and taxpayers are tricked into providing their bank account information to the scammers. The IRS never requests bank account or other personal information over the phone or via QR code.
The fake notice also states that, if you cannot provide updated bank information using the QR code, to call an 800 number. That phone number is not legitimate. If you must call the IRS, the correct number to call is the official IRS customer service number, 1-800-829-1040.
If you receive a fake notice, do not scan the QR code, click on links or call the number in the notice. You should also consider reporting receipt of a fake notice to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration through their hotline at 1-800-366-4484 or submit a complaint at www.tigta.gov/reportcrime-misconduct. Alternatively, you can forward a copy of the notice to the IRS via email to [email protected]. You might want to consider doing both.
Jim de Bree
Valencia
