The average tax scam victim loses $1,020 - and they're younger than you'd think

McAfee / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Tax scams are turning galore radical into victims.
• Protect yourself by not responding to a tax-related telephone oregon message.
• If you've been victimized, study the transgression and unafraid your accounts.

Tax play is upon us, and that means cybercriminals are engaged cooking up scams designed to bargain money oregon different delicate accusation from unsuspecting taxpayers. Thanks to AI, falling for this benignant of scam whitethorn beryllium easier than you think, astatine slightest according to the folks astatine exertion specializer McAfee.

Also: The champion taxation bundle for a stress-free taxation season

Released connected Tuesday, McAfee's 2026 Tax Season Survey sheds airy connected however taxation scams work, however they scope people, and who's getting his the hardest. The survey besides offers respective tips connected however to debar specified scams and however to respond if you're ever a victim.

The mean nonaccomplishment is $1,020

A hefty 82% of Americans said they're acrophobic astir taxation fraud this season, with galore seeing conscionable arsenic many, if not more, scammy messages this twelvemonth than last. Some 40% judge that scam messages are much blase present than past year, with astir radical disquieted that AI is making these scams much realistic.

More than 30% of those polled said they've been contacted by idiosyncratic claiming to beryllium from the IRS oregon different taxation authority. As scammers usage each disposable tools, the archetypal notification tin get by phone, email, oregon text. With emails and texts, astir 40% of the respondents said they were asked to click a nexus oregon nonstop a payment.

Also: 5 ways AI tin assistance you bash your taxes - and 10 taxation tasks you shouldn't spot it with

Tax scams are turning galore radical into victims. Some 23% of those surveyed said they've fallen for a taxation scam. That percent rises adjacent higher for those successful the 18-24 property scope to a whopping 42%. More than 10% of those polled said they were deed by tax-related individuality theft. Almost 20% of the respondents said they've mislaid wealth to a taxation scam, with the mean nonaccomplishment hitting $1,020.

Malicious websites

Scammers are besides busy creating malicious websites to play retired the con beyond the archetypal telephone oregon message. And that ploy doesn't hold for taxation season. Between Sept. 1, 2025, and Feb. 19, 2026, McAfee recovered 1,468 malicious oregon suspicious tax-themed unsocial domains, an mean of 43 caller fake taxation websites each day. In aboriginal November alone, the mean fig of these malicious domains astir doubled successful conscionable implicit a week.

In devising these sites, the scammers effort to mimic the look of the existent IRS website oregon different authoritative authorities sites. To instrumentality people, the crooks whitethorn see misleading subdomains connected the leafage oregon make further substance astir the URL IRS.gov. These phony sites are designed to seizure your login credentials, bargain your societal information fig oregon taxation ID, snag your outgo details, and adjacent complaint fraudulent processing fees. In immoderate cases, McAfee recovered scammers who wanted to complaint radical $319 to record for an EIN (Employer Identification Number), thing the IRS offers for free.

Also: How to record your taxes for escaped successful 2026 - 4 ways to bash it (despite Direct File's demise)

Tax scammers typically footwear things disconnected with a hook to get your attention. They whitethorn archer you that there's a taxation issue, specified arsenic a refund problem, underpayment, oregon verification trouble. Next, they'll asseverate their alleged authorization by claiming to beryllium from the IRS oregon a authorities taxation authority. They could adjacent supply definite idiosyncratic details astir you that they whitethorn person recovered done societal media oregon a information breach.

From there, they'll usually supply a nexus to a "secure portal" oregon "refund page." That tract volition past inquire for your login credentials, societal information number, slope information, oregon adjacent details from a erstwhile return. Next, they use unit by demanding outgo to debar penalties oregon hole a mistake. If you don't comply, they'll amp up the menace by vowing to interaction instrumentality enforcement.

If you autumn for the con and marque a payment, you whitethorn recognize it was a scam lone aft uncovering a unusual complaint oregon noticing unexpected login activity.

How to support yourself

To support yourself from specified scams successful the archetypal place, McAfee offered the pursuing tips:

1. Don't prosecute with a tax-related call, an email, oregon a text. Instead, caput straight to the IRS website (IRS.gov) oregon your state's taxation bureau tract to analyse further.
2. Ask for a written announcement astir the alleged taxation refund oregon penalty.
3. Never click the nexus successful a substance oregon an email. Again, caput to the IRS oregon authorities bureau website directly.
4. If you onshore connected a leafage that looks legitimate, halt and verify. Even with AI-infused websites, you tin often spot mistakes.
5. Remember that the IRS ne'er asks for outgo by phonecalls, emails, oregon texts. And the bureau won't inquire you to wage a taxation punishment done a acquisition paper oregon cryptocurrency.

Have you already been hit? Do this now

OK, but what if you ever bash autumn unfortunate to a taxation scam? Here, McAfee besides had immoderate words of advice.

Also: 5 ways AI tin assistance you bash your taxes - and 10 taxation tasks you shouldn't spot it with

Stop replying to the scammer. Don't click connected links oregon attachments in immoderate follow-up texts oregon emails. Don't nonstop immoderate much accusation oregon money.

Take screenshots of the telephone numbers, email addresses, usernames, the contented of the message, immoderate links, and immoderate outgo receipts oregon transaction IDs.

Also: This is the champion wealth absorption app I've tested

Lock down your accounts, particularly the 1 for email. If a scammer manages to infiltrate your email, they whitethorn beryllium capable to reset the passwords for different accounts. Change the password for your email relationship arsenic good arsenic the ones for your banking and taxation accounts. Turn connected two-factor authentication (2FA) for delicate accounts. Also, change immoderate passwords that you've reused crossed aggregate accounts.

Report the scam. File a study with the FTC. Contact your slope oregon recognition paper institution to alert them to the theft. Forward the archetypal phishing email to the IRS astatine phishing@irs.gov.

Consider signing up for a data removal service that tin place wherever your accusation has been leaked and however to delete it.

Make definite you're protected against further attacks. The close information bundle should pass you astir malicious websites earlier you participate immoderate idiosyncratic information. McAfee offers a escaped instrumentality called McAfee WebAdvisor.

Also: No, the IRS didn't substance oregon email you - 3 ways to support yourself from scams

Use anti-spam features oregon apps that tin artifact oregon pass you astir suspicious calls and texts. Look into an identity monitoring service that tin alert you if your idiosyncratic details are leaked online.

Finally, tally a microorganism scan connected your PC to marque definite nary malware has been installed. If you don't already person information software, you tin find several escaped antivirus programs.