U.S. authorities warn against surging phishing schemes, information theft

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States said on Monday that taxpayers across the nation must be aware of ongoing threat of internet phishing scams and personal information theft.

"The IRS continues to see a steady stream of new and evolving phishing schemes as criminals work to victimize taxpayers throughout the year," the IRS said in an announcement.

In theses days, phishing schemes were usually conducted in different platforms, mostly online, in order to steal critical personal information, said the IRS.

"The IRS warns taxpayers, businesses and tax professionals to be alert for a continuing surge of fake emails, text messages, websites and social media attempts to steal personal information," said the IRS.

Some phishing schemes in recent years even disguised as the IRS to collect and steal taxpayer's personal information, using legitimate-looking emails with fake but convincing website pages, according to the IRS.

"Watch out for emails and other scams posing as the IRS, promising a big refund or personally threatening people. Don't open attachments and click on links in emails. Don't fall victim to phishing or other common scams," said Chuck Rettig, Commissioner of the IRS.

With social media approaches or a shortened URL, phishing schemes could also fulfil their ultimate goal of information theft, said IRS.

"Taking some basic security steps and being cautious can help protect people and their sensitive tax and financial data," Rettig added.