WASHINGTON - To kick off a special week, the Internal Revenue Service and the partners of the Security Summit Today they warned taxpayers and tax professionals to beware of a dangerous combination of events that can increase your exposure to tax scams or identity theft.

The combination of the shopping season, the upcoming tax season, and the pandemic create additional opportunities for criminals to steal sensitive personal or financial information. People should be especially careful when shopping online or viewing emails and text messages.

The IRS, state tax agencies, and the nation's tax industry, working together as the Security Summit, today mark the start of the sixth annual National Tax Security Week with advice on the basic protections everyone should take. These can help protect against identity theft, as well as protect confidential tax information that criminals can use to try to file false tax returns and obtain refunds.

"Don't let this be the most wonderful time of year for identity thieves," said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “As the holiday season and tax season approach, the risk for taxpayers and opportunities for criminals increases. We urge individuals to be very careful with their personal and financial information during this period while shopping online or receiving suspicious emails or text messages. Taking a few simple steps can prevent people from becoming victims of identity theft and protect their sensitive personal information needed for tax returns and refunds. ”

Since 2015, the IRS and Security Summit partners have taken important steps to protect the nation's taxpayers and tax professionals from tax-related identity theft. But progress in this area led identity thieves to develop their tactics, trying to obtain confidential information from taxpayers and tax professionals to help prepare fraudulent tax returns. Taxpayers can help in this fight by protecting their financial and tax information. Summit partners continue to highlight security steps in the "Taxes.Security.Together" effort.

As part of that effort, National Tax Safety Week is designed to help share information with taxpayers and tax professionals during this critical period. The special week includes special informational graphics and social media efforts on platforms such as Twitter and Instagram via @IRSNews and #TaxSecurity.

A special emphasis for this year on social media will be on tax safety awareness in the youngest and oldest Americans. Even if someone doesn't file a tax return, their online interactions can lead to scammers obtaining confidential information and using it to try to get a refund.

10 key steps to protect confidential information:

To assist taxpayers and tax professionals, the Safety Summit offers 10 basic steps everyone should remember during the holidays and as the 2022 tax season approaches:

• Don't forget to use security software for computers, tablets, and mobile phones, and keep it up to date. Protect electronic devices of family members, especially teens and young children.
• Make sure that your computer antivirus software has a function to stop malware and that there is a firewall enabled that can prevent intrusions.
• Scams PhishingLike emails, calls and texts from imposters, they are the number one way that thieves steal personal data. Do not open links or attachments in suspicious emails. This year, fraud scams related to COVID-19, Economic Impact Payments and other changes in tax laws are common.
• Use strong and unique passwords for online accounts. Use a phrase or series of words that can be easily remembered or use a password manager.
• Use multi-factor authentication whenever possible. Many email providers and social networking sites offer this feature. Helps prevent thieves from taking accounts easily.
• Buy from sites where the web address begins with "https"; the "s" is for secure communications over the computer network. Also, look for the "lock" icon in the browser window.
• Don't shop on unsecured public Wi-Fi networks in places like a shopping mall. Remember, thieves can eavesdrop.
• At home, protect your home Wi-Fi networks with a password. With more homes connected to the web, secure systems become more important, from wireless printers, wireless door locks to wireless thermometers. These can be access points for identity thieves.
• Back up files to computers and mobile phones. A cloud service or external hard drive can be used to copy information from computers or phones, providing an important place to retrieve financial or tax data.
• Work from home? Consider creating a virtual private network (VPN) to securely connect to your workplace.

Other common warning signs; additional places for information

The IRS and Summit partners continue to see identity thieves trying to look like government agencies and others in the tax community by emailing or texting about tax refunds, stimulus payments, or other items. Remember, the IRS will not call or send unexpected texts or emails about things like refunds. More information about these common scams is available at IRS Tax Tip: Tips to Help Taxpayers Avoid Common Tax Scams.

The IRS and Safety Summit partners are sharing YouTube videos about taxpayer safety measures. Videos can be viewed or downloaded at Simple steps to protect your computer and phone y How to Avoid IRS Text Message Scams.

Employers can also share the Publication 4524, Taxpayer Security Awareness PDF, with your employees and clients, while tax professionals can share with clients.

Additionally, Summit partners remind people that these security measures include mobile phones, an area that people can sometimes overlook. Thieves have become more adept at compromising mobile phones. Phone users are also more likely to open fraudulent email from their phone than from their computer.

Taxpayers can review the security recommendations for their specific mobile phone by reviewing the Smartphone Security Checker of the Federal Communications Commission. Since phones are used for shopping and even taxes, remember to make sure phones and tablets are as safe as computers.

During the pandemic, numerous scams related to COVID-19 remain. These may be attempts to obtain confidential personal or financial information. The Federal Trade Commission has also issued alerts; Consumers can stay on top of the latest information about scams and report COVID-related scams.

The IRS, state tax agencies, the private sector tax industry, including tax professionals, work in partnership like the Security Summit to help protect taxpayers from identity theft and refund fraud. This is the first in a week-long series of tips to raise awareness of identity theft. See IRS.gov/security Summit for more details.