The IRS has issued a warning of a new email scam mentioning the Affordable Care Act (also known as the ACA or “Obamacare”). The email appears authentic and includes a fake Notice CP2000 attachment. A Notice CP2000 is a form the IRS uses to notify taxpayers when income reported to them by third parties does not match the income reported on their tax return. This notice is always mailed by the IRS to taxpayers using the U.S. Postal Service, never emailed. Click here to take a look at samples of fake CP2000 notices.
The fake attachment references an issue related to the ACA and requests information regarding 2014 health insurance coverage. The attachment requests the recipient send a check made payable to “United States Treasury” and provides an Austin, TX address and an official-looking payment voucher.
In addition to the attachment, the email body contains a link for the recipient to make a payment on the “tax” owed. Clicking on this link will take the recipient to a website where they can input their credit/debit card information or bank information to have the amount withdrawn.
Please keep in mind that the IRS does not send such notices to taxpayers via email or social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. The IRS also does not demand that payment be made by money order to any type of gift card such as iTunes.
Should you receive such an email, phone call, or notice of any type that you are unsure of, please contact our office before responding. Not only can we save you the hassle of paying a bill you do not owe, but we can also notify the IRS of such correspondence so they can begin the work of tracking down those responsible for this scam.
For more information, please click here to visit the IRS website.