Contributed by: MatthewD, FreeTaxUSA Agent, Tax Pro
From December 1 through December 5, the IRS hosted the 10th Annual National Tax Security Awareness (NTSA) Week. The emphasis of this event was to educate taxpayers and tax providers about the importance of protecting sensitive financial information from identity theft and tax scams, particularly during upcoming holidays and as the 2026 tax season approaches.
The IRS published an informative 120-minute webinar on YouTube, which highlights how criminals in today’s digital age leverage the use of emails, phone calls, junk mail and social media to steal tax refunds and hard-earned savings. These scams cost taxpayers billions of dollars every year and continue to create a growing number of victims. Take the time to educate yourself and your family by watching this valuable IRS presentation, “NTSA Week: How to Protect Yourself, Your Business and Your Clients”.
The 2025 NTSA presentation covers:
The current threat landscape
- AI-Generated Scams: The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to craft phishing emails is rising (doubling from 5% to 10% in three years), making fraudulent emails harder to detect as they often lack the typical spelling or grammatical errors of the past.
- Business Email Compromise (BEC): Scammers use compromised email accounts or "typosquatting" (creating fake domains that look real) to send fake requests from taxpayers.
Essential security measures
- Antivirus Software: Must be kept active and updated to catch malware.
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Mandatory for any account handling taxpayer data; it adds a critical layer of defense against stolen credentials.
Tools for taxpayer protection
- Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN): The single most effective defense against tax-related identity theft. It prevents a return from being filed without the unique six-digit code. The IRS encourages all taxpayers to enroll, not just previous victims. Without an IP PIN, resolving a fraudulently filed return can take the IRS up to 500 days, causing significant delays for taxpayers.
- Reporting Resources:
- IdentityTheft.gov: The Federal Trade Commission’s one-stop shop for reporting identity theft. It allows users to file an IRS identity theft affidavit (Form 14039) electronically and generates a personalized recovery plan.
- ReportFraud.ftc.gov: A portal to report impostor scams and other fraud to help law enforcement track trends.
Additional NTSA Week resources:
IRS Newswire – “IRS and Security Summit partners announce 10th Annual National Tax Security Awareness Week”.
IRS Newswire – “The IRS Never Goes Phishing”. Critical reminders about how the IRS communicates, how to spot phishing attempts, and steps taxpayers can take to protect themselves.
Identity Theft Resource Center – “What a Scammer Can Do With Your Banking Information”. An informative consumer-level breakdown of the risks associated with compromised financial data.
IRS – “Don’t Let Grinchy Scammers Ruin Holiday Gift Card Giving”. Holiday-focused alert on gift card scams that continue to surge at this time of year.
IRS – “De-CAFinating Your Client Authorizations: Practice Good Records Hygiene”. Guidance for practitioners on using FOIA CAF77 reports and withdrawing outdated authorizations.
For more information from the IRS, visit the IRS YouTube channel, IRSvideos.